


A Binding of Fates

by OfCabbagesandKings10647



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Consensual Sex, F/M, Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest Spoilers, Fuckbuddies, Hidden Truths DLC spoilers, Miscommunication, Nohr | Conquest Route, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, So hopefully I can actually finish this story, Unplanned Pregnancy, Vaginal Sex, actually the sexual trauma plays a big part of the conflict, but this has a happy ending, i want to be clear though that the sexual trauma was due to an event wayyyyy in the past, it did not happen in the course of this story, mentions of sexual trauma, really it's just not communicating at all about certain things, so be aware of that, the second "part" if you will is also kinda sad, this gets kinda sad around chapter 12
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:08:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 43,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28103727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfCabbagesandKings10647/pseuds/OfCabbagesandKings10647
Summary: Severa was never one to back down from a challenge, but when it comes in the form of a certain blond-haired, blue-eyed keeper of justice, she probably should have left it alone. She didn’t mean to get so attached, but once back in Ylisse, Severa makes a discovery that changes her life forever. Back in Nohr, Arthur is dealing with the aftermath of her departure and debates on whether he should go looking for her. But with almost no clues as to her whereabouts, Arthur is at a loss of what to do.The road to reunion is filled with heartache, but fate has a funny way of working.
Relationships: Elise/Odin (Fire Emblem), Harold | Arthur/Luna | Selena, Harold | Arthur/Serena | Severa
Comments: 11
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So this is an Arthur x Selena/Severa fanfiction that I had in my head for literally years, but never got around to doing. Lately though I’ve been bored so I decided to finally put this on paper (would it be considered paper?). In any case, I finally wrote it out, so here’s the first chapter. Ah, yeah this will be a multi-chaptered fic, hopefully I can actually finish it, but here’s the first chapter, hopefully that’ll motivate me to finish and post all of it. 
> 
> So obligatory disclaimer, Fire Emblem Fates/Awakening is not mine, the characters are not mine, and the conversation between Arthur and Selena/Severa in the first part of this chapter is not mine. I’m just borrowing all of the aforementioned for my own entertainment purposes (I did edit their first conversation (it’s the C-support conversation) a little bit, but not enough to say it’s mine; literally just added a word or two, changed some emphasis on a few words, changed like one punctuation mark and cut some of the end).
> 
> On with the fic!

Leaning up against a pillar, Selena sighed for what must have been the 100th time that night. Of course she was happy for the newly married couple, and of course she appreciated the break from the gloomy and tense atmosphere that seemed to plague the camp on a daily basis, but she was, to put it plainly, _bored_.

When it was announced that there would be a wedding, she was looking forward to spending time with Odin and Laslow. To sit down and really be able to _talk_ with them. But then Laslow was too busy dancing with Princess Azura, and Odin had lately been in the company of Princess Elise almost every waking moment whether on or off the battlefield, so that left her on the periphery of the party, moping because her boys weren’t paying attention to _her_.

_“But then again”_ , she mused, _“they more than anyone else here deserve a break, and if that means I have to suffer alone, then so be it I guess.”_

Suddenly, a crash to her right, followed by a string of apologies broke her out of her reverie. Glancing up, she saw it was Arthur, one of Princess Elise’s retainers.

She had never really talked to him much, in fact only in retainer meetings and across a table, but she had heard the stories of his legendary bad luck, as well as what an apparently good person he was. She had also heard in passing that as helpful as he tried to be, offering to help others and dropping most everything to help another person when asked, that people lately were going to great lengths to avoid asking him for assistance. It killed her to think that someone who was actively trying to build the world up had, for lack of better wording, the world actively trying to break him down.

_“He needs someone to help him... so why not be that helper?”_

Making an impulsive decision as she was wont to do, she sauntered over to where Arthur was busy trying to right a table and its chairs, and waited for him to finish before tapping him on the shoulder.

“Hey, Arthur! You're one of those jack-of-all-trades types, right?”

Turning around, Arthur peered down at her, and Selena was suddenly aware of how much taller he was than her. So distracted she was by this discovery she almost missed his response.

“-ve never really thought of myself like that... If anything, I am a man of justice. Standing tall in the face of evil, protecting all that is good and pure in the world, fighting boldly against-”

“Whoa whoa whoa, slow down!” Selena interrupted, cutting him off mid-monologue, “You seem to be operating under the misconception that I care about all that. Look, I like to think of you as a jack-of-all-trades, so that’s what you are. Got it?”

“Er-”

“Anyway,” Selena cut him off again, continuing on to her point “I heard you’re not getting as many requests for help recently.”

“...It’s true,” Arthur confirmed, once he was sure she wouldn’t cut him off again. “Lately people have even been refusing my offers of heroism.”

“I see. Look, Arthur. What you do for people is admirable. It really is. Your problem is, you’ve got supremely bad luck. That’s why folks don’t want your help. I hit the nail on the head, didn’t I?”

“Well... I suppose so...”

“Don’t get all depressed,” Selena continued, seeing the dejected look on his face. “I’m not just here to tear you down. I’m also here to help! I’m sick of seeing such a heroic jack-of-all-trades type get held back by bad luck. There must be a million ways of curing you! We’ll find one together.”

The look on Arthur’s face instantly cleared up, and he flashed her a bright smile. “Really? You think there’s hope for a poor, unfortunate justice seeker like myself?”

Selena grinned. She really did want to help, but if she was going to, she figured she should get something out of it too, right?

“I do. All I ask in return is that you come shopping with me whenever I want. I love shopping, but I hate carrying all my heavy bags around. It’s a pain. So do we have a deal?”

Sticking out her hand to shake, Arthur regarded her for only a moment more before he took her hand in affirmation. “I will gladly accept your offer.”

“Great! It’s settled. We begin operation “Fix Arthur’s Luck” tomorrow, bright and early!”

* * *

The next morning Selena found herself being shaken awake by Beruka. Grumbling, she shot a glare towards and scowled at Beruka, but before she could even get a word in, Beruka beat her to it.

“Arthur is outside. He says he has business with you.”

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Selena wracked her brain for why Arthur would be there, when she remembered her promise from the night before. Suddenly wide awake, Selena shot up from her bed and began getting dressed into her day clothes, thanking the already leaving Beruka for waking her. Grabbing her sword, Selena checked her hair one last time before heading out of the room.

Sure enough, Arthur was standing there, fiddling with the handle of his axe and looking slightly embarrassed for some reason.

“Good morning Arthur,” Selena greeted.

“Ah, good morning Selena. Did you sleep well?”

“As well as I could given all the noise, “ Selena replied, fixing her belt. Once satisfied, she looked up at Arthur, taking in his appearance. He looked as he usually did, well groomed and ready to start the day, no matter what misfortune may befall him.

“Alright Arthur, let’s get started,” Selena began, crossing her arms, “In order for me to help you, I need to do an assessment as to how bad your luck truly is. So, since we have a free day, you’re coming with me to do a little shopping today.”

“Uh, okay,” Arthur said slowly, “That seems reasonable, I guess.”

Raising an eyebrow, Selena’s expression shifted into a suspicious glare. “You guess? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, I just didn’t think we’d be going shopping so soon.”

“Well what else are we going to do all day otherwise?” Selena said, her face quickly becoming sour. “If we go shopping, we can see if anything bad happens along the way, and I can get some of my own stuff done. Remember, I’m doing _you_ a favor!”

“Oh, yes, well okay then. That is reasonable. Please don’t get mad, I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful.”

“I’m not mad! But you’re certainly _making_ me mad.” Turning away slightly from Arthur, Selena scowled at the ground. “Maybe this won’t work after all.”

A wave of panic flashed across Arthur’s face. “W-wait, Selena, I’m sorry. You _are_ doing me a huge favor, and I apologize, I promise I’ll do whatever you need me to do. Shall we get going?”

Selena glanced back at Arthur, taking in his panic, and sighed. “Fiiiiine, but only if you promise to listen to me from now on. Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”

Smiling in relief, Arthur nodded. “Of course Selena, let’s go then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that’s chapter one. Hopefully I finish the story. 
> 
> Let me know what you think, and I hope you read the rest of this when it's posted! Thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnd welcome to chapter 2! Thank you for continuing to read this, it means a lot to me!
> 
> Note: The ending of Selena and Arthur’s C support is in here, with some edits to make sense in the situation they get into.
> 
> Note 2: I realize that I said that Selena was sleeping in a room and not a tent in the last chapter. It’s my, “headcanon” I guess you could say, that in the Deeprealm that Lilith creates, the army has “dorms” if you will, kinda like the setup in Fire Emblem Three Houses, if you’re familiar with that. After all, why should only Corrin have a nice sleeping area?

Making their way through the army’s base of operations, Selena made idle chatter with Arthur, the former flowing from one topic to another seemingly without much connection between points, the latter nodding and commenting when appropriate. It was somewhat late in the morning, yet most of their comrades were either still sleeping or just getting up, leaving the campgrounds mostly empty and quiet.

“Ugh, I can’t believe pretty much everyone is still asleep. I wonder if Laslow and Odin are still sleeping? Well, Odin probably is, he’s the heaviest sleeper I’ve ever known, but Laslow on the other hand is a lighter sleeper, buuut if he was up all night dancing I’m almost positive that he’s still sleeping, because I’m preeeetty sure that he has a thing for Azura, and while he doesn’t like to show off usually he would never pass up a chance to impress a girl he’s interested in. Which reminds me, if he  _ is _ interested in her, I need to sit him down and make sure he’s actually serious about her, because he could end up in real trouble if this is just a fling in his mind. Then again it doesn’t seem like Azura is super close with the Nohrian royals, though I know Elise is trying to get closer to her, so I guess it could be a big problem after all. I don’t know though, what do you think Arthur? How much trouble do you think Laslow would get into? 

“Well, Azura is related to Elise and the others, and as you said Elise is trying to connect with her, so if Elise gets upset on Azura’s behalf I’m sure Camilla and the others-”

Whatever Arthur had been saying was suddenly cut off as he tripped over something, stumbling into a stack of crates filled with produce. Selena watched as the crates tipped over, their tops coming off and spilling their mostly spherical contents which proceeded to roll in every direction once freed from their wooden confinements.

Dumbfounded, Selena looked down and picked up the object that had caused the situation in the first place.

_ “...A horse brush? What the heck? We’re nowhere near the stables, what is this doing here?” _

Glancing around at the mess of various fruits and vegetables scattered across the ground, Selena sighed as she realized that they would have to pick all of it up. A groan from the ground by the crates redirected her attention to Arthur, who was slowly getting up and brushing himself off. 

__

“Yikes, are you okay? You took quite a tumble there.”

__

“Yes, I’m okay,” came Arthur’s reply, a look of embarrassment gracing his features. “Sorry Selena, why don’t you go ahead, picking all this up may take awhile and I don’t want to delay you from your errands.”

Selena scoffed, and shot Arthur an incredulous look. “You’re kidding right? If I go on ahead, how will I be able to observe you if anything else happens? Besides, you’re supposed to carry the bags, remember?”

“Ah, yes of course,” said Arthur, nodding, “well I suppose I better start picking all this up. You can sit here by the crates I suppose, there’s really nowhere else.”

“What are you talking about? I’m gonna help you pick all this up you know. That way we can get back to shopping sooner.” 

Picking up an apple, Selena continued. “Besides, this is the SelenArthur Alliance, which means as member A I am duty-bound to help member B in times of need, just like you are duty-bound to help me.”

Glancing at Arthur, Selena noticed the blank look he was giving her. “What’s that look for?”

“I’m sorry, the... what now? SelenArthur Alliance?”

“Oh, yeah,” Selena said, suddenly beaming, “the SelenArthur Alliance. You like it? I made it up last night.”

“Um... I guess?” replied Arthur, looking confused.

“What?” Selena asked, suddenly becoming self-conscious, “I figured our partnership needs an official name, hence ‘SelenArthur Alliance’. It’s great,  _ isn’t it _ ?” she finished, sending a glare in Arthur’s direction as her face began to heat up from her own embarrassment.

“Oh, um... yes, it’s great. Well... I guess the first act of assistance of the SelenArthur alliance is picking up this fruit?”

“That’s the spirit!” Selena said, grinning. “Well let’s get to it, the sooner we get this done the sooner we can get to shopping!”

* * *

Walking through the marketplace, Selena eyed the various goods and wares displayed in the vendors’ stalls. It was now about half-past noon, and Selena was just happy she would have enough time to peruse. In all honesty, she was rather grateful that Arthur’s earlier mishap wasn’t as bad as she thought it was originally since the scattered fruits and vegetables had for the most part stayed close to the fallen crates. It hadn’t taken long to gather everything back into their boxes and firmly secure the lids, and they had been on their way once again. Of course, they  _ had _ been about halfway to the market when Arthur realized that the strap that held his axe had snapped and dropped somewhere along the way, and they had to double back to look for it. Thankfully they only had to jog back for about 5 minutes to find it on the side of the road, but still, Selena’s nerves were slightly frayed.

Glancing behind to make sure Arthur hadn’t gotten separated from her, she gave him a nod when their eyes met, and she went back to looking through the market stalls.

So far his bad luck hadn’t been all that bad. Sure, it was strange that the horse brush had just happened to be lying on the ground, and it was weird that all the produce crate lids weren’t secure, but they did manage to clean it up fairly quickly. And yeah, it was unfortunate that his axe’s strap had snapped, but really that seemed to be Arthur’s own fault since he hadn’t paid attention to the state of his equipment.

_ “But he did swear he checks it every night and that it was fine yesterday, and given his luck is as he and everyone else claims it is, he seems like he would be extra careful about his things...” _

“Arthur, come walk with me.” Selena called over her shoulder. As he caught up to her, Selena looked up at him, a pensive expression on her face.

“Arthur, do you have any idea as to when your bad luck started?”

“Well... To be completely honest, I’d say it’s been that way my entire life. Why do you ask?”

“Just curious.” Selena replied, and seemed to leave it at that, until she asked another question.

“So Arthur... you would say you try to be rather careful with everything, given your luck, right?”

“Is this about my axe? I swear, last night when I checked it, it seemed to be in fine condition and I check every inch of it-”

“Just answer the question Arthur.” Selena said, looking up at him and frowning.

“...Yes, I would say I try to be extra careful with everything, but things just seem to go wrong around me.” Arthur sighed, suddenly looking sad.

“...Hey, look, I didn’t mean to upset you. I just wanted to know when this all started, so I could rule out like, a curse or something.”

“Oh.”

“Mhmm.”

They continued on through the crowd, Selena stopping occasionally to buy something or other, and adding another purchase to the growing number of bags Arthur was holding.

Finally finished with her shopping, the two of them made the trek back to the portal that led to the army’s base in comfortable silence. 

Although Arthur tripped on a tree root and dropped everything (which Selena was  _ not  _ happy about), it only happened once, and when they finally made it back to her room and she checked that all her purchases were in fact there, she quickly forgave Arthur.

“Well, I’d say that was a pretty successful shopping mission, wouldn’t you say B?” Selena mused aloud, giving Arthur a small but genuine smile.

“B? What does- oh, right, the alliance. Well, all things considered, I’d have to say so.”

“Selena,” Arthur started, heading to the door of her room, “What is your assessment of my luck so far, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Hmm... Well, it might be too early to say,” Selena said, following him, “but it certainly seems fairly bad, but if today is the worst it gets, it doesn’t seem  _ that _ bad.”

“Well, today actually was a rather mild day.” Arthur chuckled, turning to regard her before leaving. “Shall we meet again tomorrow?”

“Mmm yeah, I suppose we shall. After all,” Selena grinned, “like you said, if today was rather mild, I need to be there when it’s at its usual badness.”

“Alright, then I will see you in the morning, Selena. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight Arthur.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there’s chapter 2. I forgot to add this in the tags, which I will do, but there’s a lot of dialogue. Like, so much. Anyway, thank you for reading, please leave a comment if you feel so inclined. Thank you!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I just wanted to add some background as to the idea I had for this fic. Basically, it came from listening to the song “Who Knew” by P!nk. I can’t remember the exact details of the idea’s conception since it was years ago, but I think basically I had recently paired Arthur and Selena in my playthrough of the Conquest route and so was fixated on the ship, and I had recently discovered the song, and things kinda just went from there.
> 
> Anyway, that’s how this idea started. I’m definitely looking forward to and hoping that I complete this, but I am also absolutely dreading having to write it all out. Like, why can’t it already be written for me? Lol, well here is chapter 3.

* * *

Selena rubbed her forehead in irritation. It was about two months after their first shopping trip, and as it turned out, Arthur was indeed correct in saying the events of that day were mild. 

Since then, some of the things that had occurred included getting set on fire by a stray fireball (cast by Elise, who was attempting offensive magic), falling into the one patch of poison ivy in a bigger patch of clovers (Odin’s fault, he stopped suddenly causing Arthur to stumble), dropping an entire pot of soup after tripping over another item that was definitely not supposed to be anywhere near where it was (misplaced by Beruka), his axe somehow getting switched with a radish when trying to help a farmer with an overturned wagon, and getting set on fire again (this time due to getting caught in an explosion caused by Niles, who was trying to implement new techniques in his archery).

The most recent mishap was during Arthur’s turn at the laundry, when the water he was using was inexplicably switched with a bleaching solution, turning almost every member of the army’s clothes white or orange (it turned out that Mozu was trying to clean some white clothing items, but neglected to inform Arthur of the changing position of the water and bleaching solution). Needless to say, no one was happy, and unfortunately they were stuck wearing the ruined clothes at the next battle, leaving the Hoshidan army extremely confused.

Currently, she was attempting to brainstorm some ideas to deal with Arthur’s monstrously bad luck, but was running out of options. First, they had tried the little, simple things that might help. A rabbit’s foot. A horseshoe. She even went so far as to stitch the number seven into the insides of his clothes. None of that worked. Then they tried some more intensive methods, which included a luck tonic that she even took half of, but ended up giving _only_ Arthur food poisoning.

The only thing that worked slightly was her father’s “luck spell” that had documented successes back home, and even then with Arthur it only seemed to slightly mitigate the bad luck. Not to mention she couldn’t be casting it every day for the rest of his life. Besides, what would happen when she left?

_“I suppose I could try and alter it so it lasts longer, but even then once I leave this place would it stick? I could teach it to another mage, but then I would be questioned as to how I learned such advanced magic, and then that would bring up my parentage and that could jeopardize everything. Not to mention I’m doubtful anyone would be willing to help out...”_

No, she mused, she would have to try something else to help Arthur. She admired his resolve, though she would never admit to it. The fact that he was able to get up every morning with his head held high in optimism when a lesser man would have given up long ago; when even _she_ would have probably given up, really said a lot about his character. 

Selena smiled to herself. He really was a sweet, caring person, and anybody would be lucky to know him. Unfortunately, most people didn’t want to associate with him too closely, afraid his bad luck would rub off on them. 

“ _Well their loss_ ”, thought Selena. Since the founding of the SelenArthur Alliance, they had grown closer, and when Selena found out about his problems making friends, she brashly declared that if no one else would spend time with him she would, and that the rest of the world could take a hike.

Thinking back to that moment, Selena let out a frustrated sigh. Of course, she would stand by her vow and remain friends with him, but when she, Laslow, and Odin returned home, he would be alone again.

_“Well not completely alone, he’ll have Elise and Effie and the other remaining retainers.”_

Still, that wasn’t good enough, she thought.

_“He also said that day that he would love to have a family in the future, didn’t he.”_

Selena closed her eyes, and let her mind drift back to that particular memory.

* * *

It had been another day off, and they were once again walking through a marketplace, though this time shopping for items needed by the entire army. They had decided to split up to save time, and when she returned to the agreed-upon place to meet up, she found him surrounded by a gaggle of children, telling an epic story about some battle or other that they had fought.

Selena stopped a few feet away and started to listen in as Arthur described how valiantly both the Nohrian and Hoshidan army fought, the sounds of weapons clashing against each other as each side fought for the ideas they believed were right.

Selena watched the entranced faces of the children, obviously engrossed by the tale that Arthur was spinning. She watched their eyes grow round in astonishment at the description of magic being slung by mages, crackling and burning in the air and causing the surroundings to burst into flame or explode when they missed their targets.

Selena also took note of the way that Arthur didn’t necessarily glamorize the war, and the way he also didn’t demonize the Hoshidans.

As Arthur finished his tale, he finally noticed Selena and after answering a few of the children's’ questions, sent them on their way.

“Did you get everything you were supposed to?” Selena asked, stepping closer to him.

“I did, are you ready to depart?”

Nodding her assent, Selena waited as Arthur gathered the purchases, and the two of them started on their way back to the Deeprealm.

“Arthur, I noticed in your story you described the Hoshidans as people rather than monsters as someone else might have... was that on purpose?”

“It was, yes. Why do you ask?”

“No reason in particular. I just thought it was an interesting decision is all.”

“Well, I won’t lie and say that Hoshido is all good or something, because some of them _do_ want to harm us. But Corrin seems to know what she is doing when leading the army, and wants to spare their lives if possible which has shown to be effective in gaining some respect from the Hoshidans, so they can’t all be bad, right?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right there.” Selena nodded. “You’re good with kids, aren’t you Arthur?” Selena said as she looked at him, changing the subject with more a statement than a question.

Arthur smiled brightly, and chuckled, “Well I certainly like to think that I am.”

Selena grinned back, observing how Arthur’s demeanor brightened. “Do you want to start a family of your own one day?”

“I certainly would love to, but that would require I have a wife, which doesn’t seem very likely for me to be honest.” Arthur replied, the cheeriness suddenly disappearing, replaced by a sudden gloominess.

“Why’s that? I’m sure there’s _some_ girl out there who would be interested in you.”

“Well... it’s not necessarily that women aren’t interested- wait, are we really having this discussion?”

At this Selena stopped and turned to him, eyebrows raised. “Yeah, and what of it?”

Stopping as well, Arthur slowly chose his words. “Nothing, it just seems a little... odd I guess, having this discussion with you.”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?!” 

Arthur shook his head, at this point seemingly accustomed to how quickly she could change moods. “Nothing bad I assure you, it’s just...”

“Just **what**?” Selena retorted, suddenly putting down her parcels and crossing her arms, emphasizing her sudden displeasure.

“I don’t know, I guess it’s strange for me to be talking about my troubles with women with you, a woman.”

Selena blinked, “...Oh.”

Shaking her head, Selena went back on the offensive. “Well if anything it makes **more** sense to talk about this with me, because I could maybe help you with your problem.”

At this, Arthur gave her a small smile. “I appreciate the sentiment, but it’s not really something you can help me with. Or rather, you’re already actively trying to help me with it.”

“How can I be actively helping you with something if I don’t even know what it is?”

Putting his own packages down, Arthur simply shrugged and replied “well it’s the general misfortune that follows me that’s the problem.”

“I meet a woman, and we may hit it off quite well, and she may think that it’s almost cute how bad my luck is, but eventually she gets fed up with it and eventually breaks it off.” Arthur continued, shaking his head sadly. “Actually, that’s the case with most everyone. It was...difficult, as a child. I didn’t have any really close friends because the other kids associated me with accidents, and while it was great fun for them to watch, no one dared become too friendly lest the misfortune begin to follow them.”

“Arthur...”

As the two of them stood in silence, Selena felt her heart breaking for the man in front of her. Feeling her eyes prick with tears, Selena walked up to Arthur, wrapping her arms around his torso in a tight hug.

“S-Selena?”

“I’m sorry Arthur.”

“For what?”

“I’m sorry that people are jerks.” Breaking the hug, Selena took a step back, a sudden fire burning in her eyes. “Well screw them, if people can’t get past a little bad luck, then they don’t deserve to know you!”

“And,” Selena continued, suddenly pacing in front of him, gesticulating wildly to make her point, “If a woman can’t appreciate the fact that you are probably the sweetest, kindest, most considerate man in all of Nohr and probably Hoshido too, then she _definitely_ doesn’t deserve you.”

Whirling back to face Arthur, Selena put her hands on her hips. “As I said, fuck all those losers who can’t appreciate you. And honestly, while your luck is pretty dismal, I’ve been spending nearly every day with you and there’s no noticeable change in _my_ luck, so _obviously_ those idiots are wrong, totally and completely wrong, about it rubbing off on them. No matter what happens, you’ve got me in your corner as your friend.”

Arthur stared at Selena in stunned silence at her declaration. As the seconds ticked past, Selena slowly became aware of how animated she had been, and turned her head away, embarrassed at her outburst.

“W-well that is to say, if you want me as your friend...”

Breaking out of his stupor, a small smile began to break out on Arthur’s face until he was positively beaming at Selena.

“Of course Selena, I appreciate the offer, and of course I have your back as well. After all, we are the two members of the SelenArthur Alliance, are we not?”

Blushing slightly, Selena nodded, “Y-yeah! We are. So let’s get back to camp now member B!”

“Yes ma'am!... and thank you, Selena.”

“Of course Arthur.”

* * *

Filled with a strengthened sense of resolve, Selena sat up. 

“ _I absolutely_ ** _have_ **_to figure out a solution before I leave. He can’t be alone again. I made a promise that he wouldn’t.”_

Her mind made up, Selena went back to brainstorming, determined to find a solution to Arthur’s luck problem. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Like I said at the beginning of this chapter and chapter 1, I’ve been planning this story for years, and I just want to say that I really hope I don’t lose steam on this, because I personally really like my idea and want to see it through. Thanks also for reading these notes!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello once again! Just wanna let you know, I’m planning on trying to update this story fairly often, because I have literally nothing else to do and need to stay out of my bed and not be lazy, according to my mother. I of course would love to do nothing and just laze in bed all day, but alas, my mother gets mad at me and I would like to avoid her wrath.
> 
> In regards to the story itself, you would not believe the amount of effort it took to find the words to the beginning of this chapter. To be honest, the previous three chapters had already been started in some capacity, and this was the first chapter that I have started from scratch. Thank god for the planning document. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

* * *

The sun was shining brightly down upon the base of operations for the Nohrian army, spreading warmth and a feeling of safety among the occupants of the base.

Meandering through the camp, Odin Dark, hero of the ages, champion chosen by darkness, was leisurely making his way through to the mess hall to meet Princess Elise for lunch as was their routine of late, when he spotted Selena walking not too far ahead. 

It appeared that she was headed in the direction of her room, and seemingly lost in thought as she didn’t notice Odin when he raised his hand in greeting. He thought nothing of it at first, as despite the peaceful respite that was found in the Deeprealm they resided in, they were after all in the middle of a war and it was natural that her thoughts may be elsewhere. What did stop him in his tracks and cause him to whirl around in shock and confusion was the fact that as Selena had passed, he heard her humming the tune of a familiar drinking song from back home.

It was not necessarily the tune itself that had frozen his step, but rather the fact that Selena was humming in the first place. In all the time he had known her, he could count on one hand the number of times she had ever been in such a carefree mood.

It was his opinion then that as her close friend, it was his duty to investigate this rare occurrence, and so carefully began following Selena, cautiously staying just far enough away that she wouldn’t notice him. Not that it seemed to matter, it was clear that whatever was on her mind was her sole focus.

As Selena continued on past the equipment building, definitely headed for her room, Odin’s curious mind began stirring with ideas as to why his friend was so relaxed. Could it be she was supplied a new weapon for battle? Or perhaps she came up with a particularly satisfying finishing line?

But no, Odin thought, those were things that he would surely be joyous about, but Selena not so much. As he wracked his brain for a satisfying answer, he almost didn’t catch her name being called and that she had stopped, and he quickly sidestepped behind the corner of the building. 

Watching the interaction that had begun, Odin was surprised to note that Selena’s carefree glow seemed to brighten rather than diminish, especially given the person she was talking to. It was Arthur, one of the two retainers to Princess Elise, whose luck Selena had apparently been attempting to help improve. 

_ “Why would she be happy to see him though? If I recall, it seemed that she was irritated at the lack of progress that was being made in that regard, so wouldn’t she be annoyed to see him? Unless... Could it be?...” _

Focusing back on the couple ahead of him, Odin began scrutinizing Selena’s every gesture and expression. 

_ “If I’m right, she’ll probably... There!” _

As if on cue, Selena tilted her head at something Arthur had said, and gave him a smile he had only seen once in the past, back before they left their original timeline, before Grima, when she was just an innocent young girl with a crush on one of the new recruits to the castle guard.

Dumbfounded, Odin watched as they ended their conversation, Arthur continuing on his way and Selena once again on route to her room. Stepping out from behind the weapons building, Odin began pursuing Selena with a renewed sense of curiosity.

Just as she reached her room, Odin called out for her.

Turning around, Selena’s expression turned to something more neutral, watching with curious eyes as Odin jogged up to her.

“Can I help you, Odin?”

“You most assuredly can, my dear friend. Step inside, I need to have a private word with you.”

Her face shifting to confusion, Selena grumbled something about it being her room and not his to invite her into, and opened the door, following Odin inside as he breezed past her.

“So what is it you want?” Selena asked, closing the door behind her.

“Well, I was just on my way to the mess hall to dine with Princess Elise when I noticed you, my faithful friend, and I raised my hand in greeting, however you didn’t take notice. I was going to continue on my way since it does not do to keep a princess waiting, and I do have a most interesting tale to tell her-”

“Get to the point.” Selena snapped, used to interrupting Odin’s rambling and long-winded explanations.

Odin smiled, himself used to Selena’s snark, “I’m getting there, not to worry my friend.”

Odin only smiled wider at the roll of her eyes. “Anyway, as you passed, I took note of something  _ preeetty _ interesting. You see, I happened to notice a particular drinking song that would not be familiar to anyone in the army save us and Laslow.”

“You see,” Odin continued, turning away slightly with a hand cupping his chin, his eyes sparkling with mischief, “It would seem that my ears detected humming, from  _ you _ .”

Odin turned back to Selena, the hand on his chin whipping into a pointed finger directed at her face. “You almost never hum! Why are you so happy?”

Selena scoffed, knocking Odin’s hand away from her. “What, is that all you had to say? Are you saying that I can’t be happy once in a while?”

Selena turned and moved towards the door. “If that’s all you had to say, I’d appreciate it if you leave now, I want to take a nap.” 

Odin sighed, figuring he should have expected getting this kind of response, and switched to a different tactic. “So you and that one retainer for Princess Elise have been spending a lot of time together,” Odin started casually, “His luck doesn’t seem to have improved any. Are you sure it’s a good idea to get involved with him?”

At this Selena whipped around, an angry look on her face. “You take that back! You’re just like the rest of them and I expected better from you! Do you know how hard it is for Arthur? People like  _ you _ avoid him because you think his bad luck will rub off on you or something, and you fail to see the impact it has on him!”

“It’s not his fault it’s that bad you know,” Selena continued, face growing red, “and the  _ least _ people could do would be to befriend him. He’s  _ not _ a bad guy. He’s one of the nicest people I’ve  _ ever _ met, and despite his bad luck, despite the world and everyone in it seemingly determined to push him down and break him, he keeps getting up! Anyone would be lucky to have him as a friend, man or woman. And  **speaking** of, the women are even worse to him! They meet up with him once or twice and get his hopes up, but then they make excuses and break everything off with him because they can’t look past his misfortune to see a kind, generous man who would treat them right. AND it’s not like he’s ugly either, he’s actually a pretty handsome guy and his body is rather appealing too to be honest-”

Selena slapped a hand over her mouth and went pale, realizing what she said, but it was already too late. Odin looked smug, shaking his head and grinning at her. Selena wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole. She was mortified.

“Y-you forget I said all that. It’s nothing, I don’t like him like that, shaddup.” 

“I didn’t say anything about liking him you know.”

Selena’s face flushed again, this time in embarrassment.

“So are you going to tell him?”

Selena glared at Odin. “I said I  _ don't _ like him. We’re just friends, that’s all.”

Odin chuckled, “Suuure, because ‘just friends’ comment on how appealing they find their friend’s body, right?”

Selena’s face at this point was beet red. Desperate to change the subject, she turned the conversation on to him.

“Y-yeah well, what about you and Princess Elise? You  _ obviously _ like her, so why don’t you tell her how  _ you _ feel?”

“Oh I will, but we’re talking about  _ you  _ right now. Are you going to tell him? I saw you two talking earlier, it’s pretty clear to me that he makes you happy.”

Eyes widening, Selena strode over to her bed, grabbed a pillow, and chucked it at Odin’s head.

Laughing, Odin put his hands up in surrender and turned to leave. Just as he reached the door, he looked back at Selena, suddenly serious.

“Y’know, I know the three of us can’t talk about the past much, not here, but after everything that’s happened, after everything we’ve been through, don’t you think you, Inigo, and I deserve to be happy? That’s what our parents would’ve wanted. And if happiness means pursuing love, why should we deny ourselves that? Think about it, Severa.”

Before she could get another word in, Odin slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him gently, as if to emphasize the finality of his thoughts.

Huffing out a breath, Selena glared at the door for a moment before picking the pillow off the floor and returning to her bed. Lying down, she let her eyes drift shut, eager to forget what just transpired.

_“Stupid Owain with his stupid ideas._ _I_ ** _don’t_** _like Arthur in that way. I don’t.”_

As Selena slipped into unconsciousness, sleep overtaking her, the last thought she had was that even if she did like Arthur, there was no way he liked her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so much talking. I hope that was alright. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think, I’d appreciate the feedback. Also, I want to thank the ones who have left me a kudos so far, you have no idea how much I appreciate it!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Welcome to the next chapter, I’m so glad you’re still reading this!
> 
> This time I decided to follow Arthur in the narration because I’ve been neglecting his side of the story, hopefully I wrote him well. I want to also note that honestly, I’m not really following the actual plot of the Conquest route closely. I don’t feel like playing the game through again and I also don’t want to go on YouTube and look for Let’s Plays that get to the point, so I’m kinda just going off of the Fates wiki and my memory. Lazy I know, but honestly the actual game plot isn’t all that important to this story.
> 
> Also as a side note for the story as a whole, as is said in the tags, more tags will be added as this story progresses, because I don’t want to spoil the plot. I sincerely hope you will like the way this turns out!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

It was late in the evening, and Arthur was tired, skipping dinner in favor of retiring early for the night.

To say it had been a rough two weeks was an understatement. King Garon had ordered Corrin and her army to march to Cheve and quell an uprising that was taking place, and while Lilith would have been able to transport them with a portal from Castle Krakenburg closer to their destination, the King ordered a battalion of soldiers headed by one of his favorites, Hans, to travel with them and as a result, they had to march the whole way there.

Hans was known to some in Corrin’s army already as an unsavory fellow, but pretty soon the entire group knew exactly to the extent of how awful he was. He was rude, overly so to anyone not in his battalion (though his attitude towards them was not much better) and he was downright atrocious in his treatment of the women in the army. He spoke with no respect in regards to enemy lives, demonizing former and current adversaries alike, taking pride as he boasted about past killings. On top of that, it seemed that Hans had ordered his men to creep about Corrin’s group, as though trying to ascertain Corrin’s motives. This put everyone in their army on edge, fraying nerves and causing them to snap at one another. 

Because of this, their little army was tired and irritated by the time they got to Cheve, and it didn’t help that the Chevois knights were just as skilled and aggressive as they had been told they were. They just barely managed to subdue the knights, however the relief of their victory was short-lived, as acting on direct orders from King Garon, Hans and his men turned to slaughtering all of the knights of Cheve. After making a particularly gruesome example out of their leader, Hans and his company proceeded to massacre the villagers; every man, woman, and child. 

It was a disgusting act of violence, the disregard for life sickening. Even the most resilient of Corrin’s army was shaken to their core. By the time they had marched back to the castle, the army was in shambles; their emotional state in ruins and physically not far off.

Arthur sighed. He was grateful that they were back in the Deeprealm, eager to do nothing for a few days. Corrin and the other royals agreed unanimously that the army needed to recover, and had given them the next four days to regroup.

“Arthur!” a familiar voice called out. 

Despite his wish to just go to bed and forget the events of the last two weeks, he turned to acknowledge the person who called to him, a tired but affectionate smile breaking across his face.

“Selena,” he greeted, taking in her equally worn appearance. “Shouldn’t you be at the mess hall, eating?”

Frowning, Selena put a hand on her hip. “Shouldn’t _you_? I know for a fact that you haven’t been eating much since... since Cheve. It’s no wonder you’re so tired.”

“I mean I also haven’t been sleeping well...” Arthur said offhandedly, realizing his blunder when Selena’s look of concern deepened. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry. I just need some time to decompress. I’ll eat in the morning, I promise.”

“You shouldn’t go to sleep on an empty stomach, not when we have food around to eat.” Selena replied, and held out a small bundle wrapped in a handkerchief that Arthur hadn’t noticed. “I figured you would go to your room first thing, so I took some food from the mess hall. At least eat this before going to sleep okay?”

“...Alright, I will. Thank you, Selena.”

Selena nodded, playing with one of her sleeves. “Going to sleep hungry is awful, so it’s the least I could do.”

“You sound like you’re talking from experience.” Arthur said, mentally kicking himself for his loose tongue, and opening up the possibility of upsetting Selena when she too was no doubt suffering emotionally.

Surprisingly, Selena only shrugged. “Yeah well, growing up during a war means very few farmers to grow food, and once we were alone it was even harder.”

Arthur perked up considerably. Selena said very little about herself besides mostly superficial details about her life, and as such he was always curious to learn more about her previous circumstances. 

“We?”

“Yeah, me, Odin, Laslow, and a few others. All of our parents were in the same elite army battalion, so when they all died us kids had to fend for ourselves. It was... difficult.”

They stood there for a few moments, Selena with a far off look in her eyes, and Arthur watching her in stunned silence at the level of vulnerability she was displaying. He didn’t actually expect her to open up like that, but it was... nice.

Suddenly Selena shook her head, snapping out of her reverie, and just like that the moment was gone. Blushing slightly, Selena bid Arthur goodnight and walked away, leaving Arthur to contemplate on what just happened. He was so deep in his musings that he didn’t notice the footsteps of another person approaching him and stopping at his side until a voice broke his thoughts.

“Good evening, Arthur.”

Turning to greet the newcomer, Arthur came face to face with Laslow.

“A good evening to you as well, Laslow.”

While looking just as ragged as the rest of them, Laslow still seemed to have some pep in him, and gave Arthur a cheery smile. “Holding up okay?”

“As well as one can, I suppose, given recent events.” Arthur responded.

Nodding, Laslow took note of the handkerchief-wrapped food in his hands. “She’s right you know. It’s rotten having to go to sleep on an empty stomach.”

“Ah, you heard that.”

“I did.”

Looking serious for once, Laslow put his arms behind his head and leaned back slightly, looking as though he was assessing Arthur, before speaking. “Well, out with it, I know you want to ask something. I won’t answer just _anything,_ however, so choose your question carefully.”

Arthur blinked, considering which of the many questions he wanted to ask.

There were so many things, certain facts and details just not adding up when it came to Selena, and Arthur struggled to decide which question was most pressing. Finally deciding on one, Arthur spoke.

“Selena mentioned you grew up during a war, but to my knowledge there hasn’t been an official, all-out war in nearly 100 years. What is she talking about?”

Laslow stared at Arthur, a blank expression on his face. It was obvious he had not expected that particular question, and it seemed he was debating on how to answer, if at all.

Dropping his arms from behind his head and standing up straighter, Laslow began speaking.

“Well... I can’t exactly give specific details, but yes, Selena, Odin, myself and the others mentioned grew up during a war. It won’t be in any Nohrian or Hoshidan history books, in fact, there’s not one history book in this world that would contain the details. But nevertheless, it did indeed happen, and like Selena said we all lost our parents in that war while we were still very young, and then had to look out for ourselves.”

“It’s part of why Selena is the way she is if I’m honest.” Laslow continued. “Obviously there are other factors that play into her personality, but that’s a big part of it.”

“I see...” 

The entire time Laslow had been talking, his eyes had never left Arthur’s face, as though he were scrutinizing his reaction. After a beat, Arthur spoke again.

“Selena is... an enigma. In all the time we’ve spent together, I still feel as though I know nothing about her. It’s a bit frustrating if I’m to be honest.”

Though he tried to appear casual, something had changed in Laslow’s eyes, and his face betrayed his sudden interest in the conversation. Examining his nails, Laslow hummed in acknowledgment of Arthur’s words.

“So, it would be safe to say you want to know more about her, yes?”

Arthur paused, as something in Laslow’s tone made the innocent question seem something like a trap. Considering his words carefully, Arthur spoke slowly.

“Well, yes, that would be true. However, as much as I want to know more about her, I at the very least know that if I pestered her too much she would clam up, no doubt pushing me further away, which is the opposite of what I want. I want to get to know her better, but on her terms.”

Laslow’s eyebrows shot up, a subtle look of surprise splashed across his face. Slowly, the surprise melted away, replaced by a wide grin. It would seem that whatever he had been searching for in Arthur’s answer was found, though what exactly that was Arthur was unsure.

“If you don’t mind me asking one more question Laslow, why are you so interested in my response?”

“Selena is very dear to me,” Laslow began, “and her happiness is mine as well. To say I care about her a lot would be an understatement.”

“But not to worry my friend,” Laslow said, chuckling at the face Arthur made, “I love her in a platonic, sibling sort of way. No, I have someone else I want to be romantically involved with, so there’s no need to worry about any sort of competition from me.”

Laughing fully now at Arthur’s suddenly flustered state and stutterings of 'more admiration than anything else for Selena', Laslow turned away. “And don’t worry, your secret ‘admiration’ is safe with me... and Odin.”

Laughing once more, Laslow walked off, leaving a blushing and embarrassed Arthur staring after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I realize that this story is like, 90% dialogue, and I’m trying to incorporate more... not dialogue. I’m honestly not that great at describing things actually, so it’s a bit of a challenge for me. But! I will try my best for you, the reader, because I want you to enjoy yourself, and 90% dialogue seems like too much. 
> 
> And at the risk of sounding insincere from repetition, I do want to thank you for clicking on my story and reading it. It means so much to me if you are getting enjoyment out of this, and every bit of encouragement, whether through views or kudos or comments, absolutely makes my day a bit better, and motivates me a bit more. So thank you, I hope you continue to read this!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all, welcome to the next chapter of my story! 
> 
> IMPORTANT: I want to note, as I am reading through the Fates Conquest route wiki, I realize that the game story seems to progress fairly quickly from one chapter to the next. My explanation for all the down time the Nohrians seem to have is due to the Deeprealm they reside in. Basically, if you look at the world map, it seems fairly large, probably taking days, if not weeks to get from one place to another. However, with the being able to travel to different places by portals (more or less), in my story after each event/game chapter, they spend the time it would take to march to the next location in the Deeprealm, recovering and what not until it is time to arrive at the next place, where they simply hop through another portal and arrive somewhere close to the intended location so it can look as though they have in fact been trekking to the location. And I know that the wiki says that time moves faster in the Deeprealms than the real world, but for the sake of the story we’re going to say the flow of time varies from place to place. In the one where the army base is, time moves just a tad faster, let’s say for every one day in the real world, it is two days in the base camp.
> 
> I realize that I could put this into the story itself, but I can’t decide a good way to do it, so here will have to do.

* * *

It was roughly two and a half weeks since the Nohrian army returned from the campaign at Cheve, and things were for the most part returning to normal. People’s eyes no longer looked quite as haunted, and sleeping and eating habits had improved greatly. Yes, people had for the most part recovered, and were feeling good again.

Of course, there is always an exception to the rule, and one person in the army was  _ not _ feeling good. Quite the opposite actually. 

Selena stalked through the camp, supremely irritated and looking forward to yelling at the two who had caused her foul mood. Odin had of course blabbed to Laslow about the conversation they had in her room, and the two of them had begun mercilessly teasing her every chance they got. It didn’t bother her much at first, choosing for the most part to ignore their words and suggestive jabs. No, she didn’t pay it much mind, but eventually they started teasing her around Arthur. There was no real risk of him figuring out what they were talking about, Laslow and Odin choosing to speak in the codes and inside jokes that they had developed over time, but still, it was obnoxious.

There was only so much a girl could take, only so many times she could insist that “ _ it wasn’t like that” _ , only so many times she was willing to tell Arthur “ _ they’re talking stupid is what they’re talking about _ ” before she lost her temper at her boys.

But what had really set her off was the fact that they were suddenly seeking out Arthur in their spare time. It started small, as most things do. First it was casually exchanging more words than a simple ‘good morning’ or ‘sleep well’. Then it was inviting him to eat lunch with them. Before she knew it, Laslow and Odin were casually dropping tidbits of information they had learned about him around her (not that she didn’t already know those things). 

Catching sight of her targets, Selena moved in quickly, taking advantage of the fact that they were deep in conversation and therefore wouldn’t notice her approach until it was too late. 

Grabbing them each by an ear, Selena began pulling them along, their protests and whines of pain going unheard in Selena’s rage. 

She brought them to a secluded part of the camp, and only then did she let go of the two troublemakers.

Continuing to groan as they tried to rub away the pain, Laslow and Odin had the audacity to shoot glares at Selena, though quickly straightening up and adopting expressions meant to appease her once they realized that this was genuine anger she was displaying.

“Se-Selena! What a pleasure to see you, how can we help you today?” squeaked Laslow, the smile he flashed losing most of its charm due to his nervousness.

“If it’s about the teasing, we can cut back on that, can’t we Laslow?” added Odin, his eyes darting around, unwilling to make eye contact.

Selena rolled her eyes at that comment and took a deep breath in and slowly released it, a wave of relief washing over both men at her clear attempt to calm down.

“I’d appreciate it if you would knock it off completely since I keep telling you I  _ don’t  _ like Arthur that way,” huffed Selena, still clearly riled up but considerably calmer, “and by the way, I  _ am _ mad at you Odin for telling Laslow  _ lies _ about me, but this is about something else.”

“What uhh, what would that be?” Laslow asked cautiously, both he and Odin mentally running through any other recent actions that may have provoked her anger.

“This is not about what you’ve done to me, but rather what you are  _ doing _ to Arthur!”

“What we are?... What are we doing to Arthur?”

Selena crossed her arms, glaring at the two of them, confusion lining their faces.

“You really don’t know what I’m talking about?”

Glancing at each other, Odin and Laslow both shook their heads.

Selena glared for a moment longer, studying their faces carefully for any signs of deceit.

When it was clear they truly didn’t know what she was talking about, Selena spoke.

“What I  _ mean _ , is that the two of you have been more friendly with Arthur lately, and while he appreciates it greatly, I can’t help but wonder if you have some  _ ulterior motives _ ?”

Looks of realization dawned on Laslow and Odin’s faces. Was she really worried that they harbored some ill intent towards Arthur?

“Selena,” Laslow said slowly, “you don’t think that we’re going to be malicious-”

“You’re not trying to hurt or humiliate him in some way, are you?” Selena said, cutting him off. 

“No! Of course not!” Odin exclaimed, shock crossing his face. “Dearest Selena, do you really think that poorly of us?” 

“Well, no, I don’t... but I can’t help but be concerned for him.”

“Selena,” Laslow began, “We swear to you that we are only trying to be friendly with Arthur with the intention of becoming friends.”

“Indeed, it is true Selena,” Odin continued, “I relayed the information to Laslow about how Arthur is lacking in close comrades, and we realized that we were being as unfair as everyone else is, as you so brought to light.”

“And as Odin and I began to chat with him more, we found you were quite right. He is a rather pleasant fellow to be around, despite the obvious little accidents he has.” finished Laslow. Smiling gently, Laslow turned a question onto Selena. “You’re quite protective of him, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am, I get worried for his safety. He’s my friend after all.”

“Well, I  _ guess  _ that’s cleared up,” Selena continued, “Honestly though, I am glad you two’ve begun spending time with him, he really is much happier. I’m sorry I doubted you guys.”

“It’s quite alright Selena, we understand that as his friend you would be concerned for his well-being, just as we would be for you.” Laslow said as he turned to walk away, the confrontation defused. Selena watched their retreating forms for a moment, also turning to walk away when she heard another comment from Laslow to Odin.

“You know, I actually doubted you before, but now I see you’re right. She’s completely head over heels for him.”

Freezing in place, a now  _ very _ angry Selena turned back quickly and yelled after them.

“HEY!”

Whipping back around, Laslow and Odin looked on, frozen in fear, as Selena slowly stalked towards them, all the while bells tolling in their minds of their impending doom.

“I  _ told _ you, it’s not like that!” Selena growled, closing in on the two of them. “Take that BACK!”

“Uh,” Laslow stammered, making eye contact with Odin. 

“NEVER!!” shouted Odin, and suddenly they were running, desperate to get away and praying that when she caught them some of her anger would be burned off from the chase.

Bounding past people and buildings alike, the other members of the army that they passed looked on in confusion as a terrified mercenary and dark mage ran past, followed by a snarling blur of red hair.

_ “Oh, they are SO dead when I catch them!” _

Selena was meters away as they turned a corner, and her pace picked up, her fury adding more speed to her feet.

Selena at this point was running quite fast, fast enough that as she turned the corner, she was unable to stop. Selena smashed into someone, the both of them flying off their feet as they fell, and Selena’s world whited out as her head hit the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter was actually supposed to include what happens after the crash, but it was getting long and I try to keep the word count of each chapter to no more than around 1,500 words. 
> 
> Also, I realize that a lot of these chapters may feel like filler, but they’re filler with purpose. I’m trying to show the evolution of the relationship between Arthur and Selena in a believable manner, and I also am trying to show that Selena, Odin, and Laslow are extremely close, given all they had to go through together, from losing their parents in the same war, traveling to a different timeline to change the future, and now being in a completely different world under different identities. I guess you could say I emphasize relationships a lot?
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading, hope ya come back for the next chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we’re back with part two of the crash scene. 
> 
> Honestly I kinda wanted to write more in this one, but it was again getting long, and I also spent a decent chunk of time on this and am sick of looking at it.

* * *

As color and noise came back into existence, Selena heard her name being called, and the hazy outline of a person came into focus. Slowly but surely, the outline turned into the form of none other than Arthur, looking down at her with concern.

“Selena...are you alright?”

Groaning, Selena slowly sat up with Arthur’s assistance, a hand going to her throbbing head.

“Urk, I think so...” Selena said, ears ringing slightly.

“You should probably go to the infirmary, you hit your head rather hard there.”

“No, ‘m fine, I swear.” Selena mumbled, gratefully accepting Arthur’s hand to get off the ground.

Standing up, Selena was hit by a wave of dizziness, losing her footing and stumbling.

Thankfully, Arthur’s reflexes were fast, and he managed to catch her shoulders, steadying her.

“You definitely need to go to the infirmary,” Arthur said softly, face creasing even more with concern.

“Y-yeah, actually I think you’re right.” Attempting to stand up straighter, Selena looked up at him, which proved to be a mistake as she lost balance again and stumbled into his chest.

“You’re in really bad shape...” muttered Arthur, once again holding her steady.

“Arthur... can you hold me?” came Selena’s muffled request, head still leaning against him.

“W-what was that?” Arthur stuttered, though Selena was too disoriented at the moment to catch it.

“I... need help getting to the infirmary... I don’t think I can walk there... can you carry me please?” came Selena’s voice, small and fragile, more proof that she was not operating at full capacity.

“Of course, Selena.”

Selena sighed in relief, not surprised that he was freely giving assistance as he usually did, but extremely grateful all the same. Expecting him to turn around and bend down so she could climb onto his back, she gasped when instead he swept her up into a bridal carry, her face turning bright red.

“This is okay, right?” Arthur murmured, his own face covered with a light dusting of pink.

“Y-yeah. This is fine.”

With that, Arthur began to make his way towards the infirmary, being careful not to jostle her.

Remembering what a doctor had told him long ago after his own head trauma, Arthur spoke again, quietly so as not to startle or otherwise worsen her condition. 

“Selena, take care to not fall asleep, okay? Why don’t you talk about something?”

Selena hummed in acknowledgment, trying to come up with some topic of conversation, though it was difficult in her disoriented state.

“I’m not too heavy, am I?” she finally said, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

“Not at all,” Arthur chuckled, glancing down at her, “You’re actually surprisingly tiny.”

Selena snorted, “Well I mean I _am_ shorter than you.”

“Well yes, but normally you have a presence around you that makes you seem bigger, more intimidating.”

“...You’re not scared of me, are you Arthur?”

Once again, Arthur glanced down, catching the almost timid look on her face. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous around you at first, but you’ve since shown yourself to be a caring individual, and a trustworthy friend and ally, so no, I think it is safe to say that I’m not scared of you.”

“Good,” Selena sighed, a sense of relief filling her, “I’m glad.”

Silence fell over them for a moment. While they were not far from their destination, the walk there was seemingly stretching on forever, and Selena couldn’t decide whether she wanted to stay in that moment or not.

“Y’know, compared to my mother, I’m actually taller than her.” Selena muttered.

“Is that so?”

“Yep, by three inches.”

“That’s actually probably the _only_ thing I have over my mother in fact.” she continued, suddenly resentful.

“She’s perfect at everything. Every single little thing she does is absolutely perfect. It’s annoying because she doesn’t have to try very hard and still the outcome is incredible. And I on the other hand have to try _so damn hard_ just to get even close to her results, and still, it’s not enough.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Arthur said, cutting off her diatribe. “Despite what you claim, you’re quite skillful in the things you do.”

“Yeah but I actually have to _work_ for it. Mother was just naturally gifted.”

“But the fact that you have to work hard for your talents is more impressive in my opinion, because it shows you have a strong will to improve. To me that is worth more than any natural gifts.”

Selena grumbled in discontent, admittedly flattered but still wanting to rant about her mother. Unfortunately she didn’t get a chance, because at that moment they reached the medical center, Arthur maneuvering carefully to get them through the door. Surprisingly, they managed to pass without a hitch, and were greeted by the nurse.

Arthur explained the situation to them, and the nurse directed him to set Selena down on one of the beds, though telling Selena not to lie down. 

Although she wouldn’t acknowledge it under normal circumstances, Selena mourned the loss of Arthur’s arms around her, appreciative of the gentle way he treated her, as though she was a princess or something equally precious.

The nurse gave Selena a quick check over and told her to remain there until they had given her the all-clear. Turning to Arthur, the nurse told him to sit down, as they had some other task they needed to attend to and that this way Selena could be monitored, and having said that walked off, their other matter clearly very important.

So Arthur pulled a chair up to the bed, and the two of them sat in comfortable silence, before Arthur took a chance and spoke.

“Can I ask you something?”

“About what?”

“Well obviously talking about your mother upsets you,” Arthur started, suddenly very aware of how risky this question could be, “so I was wondering, what was your father like?”

Selena stared blankly at him, no identifiable emotion on her face. Misinterpreting her silence, Arthur looked away, “Y-you don’t have to say anything about him if you’d rather not, we can talk about something else.” 

“No, it’s fine Arthur... I’m just thinking about where to start.”

Leaning her head back against the frame of the bed, Selena’s face turned to the ceiling, though her gaze was looking far beyond that.

“Let’s see. Well, he always said really silly things, and he had this goofy grin plastered across his face all the time. He was a dark mage by profession, and he taught me magic because I was, and I quote, “a good conduit for magic”, but I also think he wanted me to have a back up to protect myself, in case I lost my sword or something. He was overprotective like that.”

“He was a good dad though. He always made time for me, and called me by silly pet names, and loved surprising me with little gifts.”

“It sounds like he loved you a lot.”

Selena nodded, “Yeah, and he was never shy about telling me either. We were close, much closer than Mother and I. I fought with her a lot, but she was a good mother, just as doting Daddy. But then she had to go and die.”

“In the war, right?”

Selena looked over at Arthur, who was seemingly captivated by her words. Embarrassed at how attentively he was listening, Selena’s gaze went back to the ceiling, a light blush on her cheeks. “Yeah, in the war... I’m surprised you remembered that.”

“Of course, I try to remember everything about you.”

At this Selena flushed even redder, and a quick glance at Arthur showed his own complexion taken over by red, looking embarrassed to have spoken so candidly.

“A-anyway, so yeah, Mother went and died in the war. After that Daddy almost never left my side.”

“He really stepped up to cover for the loss of Mother, even though I know he was hurting so much. They were disgustingly sweet together, so I know it was tough on him. And yet, he always said “don’t worry, Daddy’s here, Daddy will protect you”, and he did. He always fought so hard, and so bravely, even though in reality he was physically not that strong... and then he went and died too. It was... hard. So, so hard. I lost my rock. It was so much worse than when Mother died. I-”

Whatever was on Selena’s lips died as she burst into tears, burying her face in her hands. Selena continued to cry as she felt the bed dip from a new weight, and then she felt Arthur’s arms once again surrounding her, holding her tight as she unleashed her sorrows.

How long they sat there neither could say, and Arthur only let go when Selena’s crying became soft sniffling.

“Thank you, Arthur.” Selena whispered, wiping her eyes of any remaining tears.

“Of course.”

At that moment the nurse bustled in, apologizing for taking so long to return, breaking the moment between the two of them.

After having Selena walk in a straight line and running another diagnostic spell, the nurse discharged her, and she and Arthur left the building, standing outside contemplating what to say.

“So... what do you wanna do now?” Selena finally asked.

“Well... it seems that dinner is being served now, if you want to go eat.”

At the mention of food, Selena’s stomach rumbled, causing her to flush with embarrassment for the umpteenth time that day as Arthur laughed.

“I’ll take that as yes... So shall we go?”

“Y-yeah, let’s go.” Selena said, beginning to walk off to avoid making eye contact with Arthur, who just smiled at her antics and followed behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this was alright, to be honest I’m actually a very blunt person IRL, so this beating around the bush stuff with feelings is not my forte, because I just don’t do this kind of thing. Lemme know if this was believable, and let me know if you have anything else to say, I would like to know if it’s coming out okay.
> 
> Also as a note regarding heights, apparently Cordelia is one of the shortest characters in Awakening, so I headcanon her being about 5 ft. tall, which would make Selena 5 ft. 3 in. Also idk what Arthur’s canon height is, but I like to think he’d be rather tall, like 6 ft. 3 in, and I checked like a height comparison chart thingy online and that seems to match up with what I have written, with Selena’s head coming to rest against Arthur’s chest when she stumbles.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So in this chapter I tried to show a battle scene, but again I’m not great at actually describing things so I hope it’s okay. Also, we’re finally introduced to some ***conflict***!
> 
> Note: I’ve kinda decided that Charlotte will be the ‘antagonist’ in a sense, as she will sorta be causing a rift between Selena and Arthur.
> 
> On another note, other couples will be mentioned, but since it’s only touched on once, it’s not worth tagging. Honestly I’m considering getting rid of the Odin/Elise and Laslow/Azura tags, because while it’s mentioned more frequently, it’s still not really something talked about much, given this is not a story about either of those couples.

* * *

In the following days, Princess Corrin’s army made their way to Cyrkensia, by request of King Garon, who was meeting them there. Normally, Selena would have been overjoyed at the prospect of visiting a town, eager to visit any shops and markets that might be there. Then again, normally Selena would have had her faithful keeper of justice with her.

She wasn’t necessarily upset, as Arthur had every right to socialize with other people, and had every right to spend time with people who were not her. She had no claim over him, so if he wanted to walk the streets of the city with a woman who wasn’t her, she had no right to be jealous. Not that she _was_ jealous mind you, she was just... annoyed. 

The woman who just happened to request Arthur’s time was none other than Charlotte, who had joined the army after the incident at Cheve. Selena didn’t _really_ have any problems with her. She couldn't care less about how impractical Charlotte was with her makeup and hair. She didn’t care about the fact that every time they got back to the base Charlotte was the first to get into the bathhouse. She didn’t even care that Charlotte wore practically nothing all the time. Selena _did_ start caring when Charlotte decided to bat her lashes and flip her hair at _Arthur_ , when Charlotte was the first girl after a battle to be clean and fresh and flounce over to _Arthur’s_ side, when Charlotte decided to parade around wearing nearly nothing while hanging off _Arthur’s_ arm.

And Arthur, bless him, didn’t seem to realize what exactly Charlotte was doing, so he wasn’t discouraging her behavior. Then again, Selena wasn’t exactly doing anything to stop it either. But again, she had no claim over him, and so she had no right to hex her like Nyx nearly did when Charlotte approached Jakob, nor could she threaten bodily harm as Peri did when Charlotte tried the same thing with Kaze.

No, Selena had no right at all, so here she was, walking the streets of Cyrkensia alone, though it would seem not as alone as she had originally thought.

Sighing, she turned around and glared in the direction of the two who were following her.

“You can come out, I know you’re there.”

Out of the shadows stepped Odin and Laslow, looking embarrassed for having been caught.

“What do you two want? Shouldn’t you two be accompanying the princesses?

“What, are we not allowed to spend time with you, our dear, dear friend?” asked Laslow. “And the princesses are busy with other things, which is why we’re not with them.” he added seeing the look of disbelief on her face.

“What about you though Selena? Where’s Arthur?” Odin asked, wearing a cheeky grin.

“How should I know?” Selena shot back, eyes narrowing, “I’m not his keeper.”

“Ah, sounds like they’ve had a lovers' spat, huh Odin?”

“We haven’t haven’t had a ' _spat’_.” Selena hissed, starting to look angry. “And we’re not lovers.” 

“Well whatever you two are, it would seem you haven’t been talking to him for the past few days. He seems to think you’re angry with him.”

“He said that?”

Laslow nodded, “Indeed he did. So if you haven’t had a fight, what’s your problem?”

“I don’t have a _problem_ ,” Selena started defensively, crossing her arms, “if he wants to talk to me he’s perfectly capable of shaking off that, that _harlot_ , and approaching me.”

“Ahhh, so that’s what this is about.” Odin said, exchanging an amused glance with Laslow. “You know, if you just tell him you like him, this whole problem would be solved.”

“How many times do I have to tell you that _I do not like him_?”

Rolling their eyes, Odin and Laslow simultaneously let out huge sighs, looking at each other with exasperation. 

“If you insist, Selena.” said Laslow. “Well then, let’s get to the theater, the show will be starting soon.”

* * *

  
  


The following weeks went by quickly after the debacle at the theater with the mysterious singer. After assuring his children that he was fine, King Garon, bloodlust in his eyes, made the decision to send Corrin’s army across the sea to invade Hoshido, intent on starting the war in earnest.

From the beginning they had faced trouble, as first it was revealed that pirates had infiltrated the ship. They had been dispatched quickly though, and the little army remained in good spirits... Until they made it to the kingdom of Mokushu. From there, the leader of the nation quickly showed his true colors, desiring to expand his kingdom with aid from Nohr by any means necessary. When Princess Corrin and Prince Xander refused to allow it, the daimyo turned on them, sending his ninjas to kill them all, resulting in the battle for their lives that they currently found themselves in.

_CLANG_

“Watch _out_ Arthur!” Selena cried as she parried an oncoming ninja attempting a sneak attack.

“Sorry!” he called, himself engaged with an enemy combatant who kept dodging most of his attacks.

“Don’t apologize, just watch yourself, dummy!” retorted Selena, too caught up in the battle to be gentle with her words.

Fighting not far away was Laslow and Odin, Odin blasting away enemies with magic, and Laslow picking off ones that slipped past.

The ninja fighting with Selena had backed her into a corner, and it almost looked as though she were in trouble, when Odin fired some thunder magic her way, hitting the ninja square in the back.

“Watch it with that ya idiot!” Selena bit out, jumping back near Odin. “The cave is damp, you’re gonna hit us all with that if you miss!”

Odin didn’t reply, though he did open up a different tome, casting fireballs at their enemies instead. 

The numbers around the four of them thinned, Odin, Laslow, and Selena taking out most of them, teaming up in a terrifying way, as they had done for so many years.

It was beautiful to watch, if you were not the subject of their wrath. Had he not been in immediate danger, Arthur might have stepped back to watch their deadly dance, the three of them so in-sync it almost looked like it had been choreographed. 

The last enemy fell, leaving the four of them panting from exertion. There were dozens of dead ninjas littered across the cave floor, a bleak reminder that not everyone can be spared in war, not everyone can be granted the mercy typical of Lady Corrin.

Arthur’s eyes made contact with Selena’s, but something was wrong, as her eyes widened, face struck with horror at something behind him.

He whipped around, but it was too late. A hidden, lingering ninja had melted in from the shadows, leaping into the air with a sword pointed straight at his chest.

“ _Arcthunder!_ ”

A bolt of lightning streaked through the air, crashing into and sending the ninja flying towards the cavern wall, his dead body still convulsing as it hit the ground.

Turning back to the others, Arthur was met with the sight of a panicked looking Selena, arm still raised, residual magic crackling around her fingers and hand.

“What happened to ‘ _you’re gonna hit us all with that if you miss’_?” came the voice of Odin, an eyebrow raised as he and Laslow shared an amused look.

“I had a clear shot,” Selena scoffed, suddenly extremely interested in the hilt of her sword. “And my aim has always been better than yours. C’mon, let’s go find the others.

Checking their surroundings once more before departing, Laslow and Odin nodded and proceeded on through the tunnels.

Selena looked as though she wanted to say something to him, but instead turned and followed Laslow and Odin.

Arthur quickly went after them, catching up to Selena, who was now refusing to acknowledge him.

“Selena... please talk to me.” Arthur pleaded.

Selena’s pace slowed slightly at his tone. She was aware that she was being unfair to him, but still refused to make eye contact as she spoke.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“Selena... Why are you mad at me? Have I done something to offend you?”

“I’m not mad... I’m just... irritated.”

Relief crossed Arthur’s face. She was not mad at him, only irritated. This was better, because that meant he would be able to more easily fix whatever it was that displeased her. “Tell me what I can do to make this right Selena, I... I miss talking to you.”

Selena sighed, “Then why _don’t_ you talk to me? Why didn’t you just come find me and talk? I was... I was _lonely_ , and I missed talking to you too.”

Shame crossed Arthur’s face. As he thought about it, he realized that it was true. He had been neglecting his friendship with her as of late, which was not a part of the behavior he strived to exhibit. What made him feel worse was the fact that she had gone out of her way to assure that he wasn’t as lonely anymore, and yet he went and to an extent abandoned her. “I’m sorry Selena... It was irresponsible of me to neglect our friendship. It was wrong of me to leave you alone when you have gone out of your way to ensure that I wasn’t... can you forgive me?”

Despite herself, a small smile began to break out on Selena’s face, and finally, she looked up at Arthur. “I forgive you... as long as you don’t ignore me again, promise?”

Smiling in relief, Arthur responded, “I promise, Selena.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frankly this chapter was kinda just an excuse to explain something involving Charlotte in the next chapter (which involves a time skip of a few weeks). I couldn’t just say “and then Charlotte started flirting with Arthur and Selena got mad but did nothing because she is a tsundere lololol”, so I ended up with this.
> 
> As a final note for this chapter, the reason that Selena can use magic without a tome or staff in my mind is because, as she mentioned, her dad always said that “she is a good conduit for magic”, and at this point it should be pretty obvious that I pair Cordelia with Henry in Awakening.
> 
> Also, I apologize if anyone reading this is a fan of Charlotte. I personally am not.
> 
> And in regards to the story itself, the chapter after the next is supposed to have the sexy times scene, so there’s that to look forward to I guess.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, here’s the chapter before sexy time. I want to say, if I haven’t already, that I have never written one of those scenes before, so it’s probably going to take a bit longer to write. It will also be the first time I will be having someone beta for me, so that will be a new experience too.
> 
> Also, my beta for the sex scene(s) has been reading over what has been published so far and pointed out to me a key characteristic about tsunderes that I forgot, which is that they abuse the person they like. In this case Selena is not so much a tsundere as much as she is “emotionally constipated, unable to express her feelings and just in total denial”.
> 
> One final note before the start of the chapter, even though the Fire Emblem series seems to take place in a more medieval setting, I’ve made the decision for their dressy clothes to be a bit more like something from our time. I mean canonically Camilla wears heels in her battle outfit, so why can’t their clothing be a bit modern? It’s a fantasy setting lemme do what I want, lol.

* * *

The army continued advancing into enemy territory, cutting through the mountains to avoid the Hoshidan forces after their chance encounter with the opposing royals in Izumo. The Nohrians were told to stay alert and expect an attack from the villagers of the nearby Kitsune tribe, but despite how careful they tried to be while traversing the terrain, they were nevertheless surprised when they found themselves surrounded by the snarling fox people.

The fight itself could’ve gone better, as several people sustained serious, though thankfully not fatal injuries. Elise had been one of that number, and Odin had been distraught at her condition. The entire party had been fighting rather close together, so they all heard when Odin accidentally proposed to Elise, begging her to stay alive so he could have the chance to marry her. Elise laughed despite the pain she was in, and said that she would marry him if they got out of the situation alive, promising to stay by his side for as long as she remained in the land of the living if they did (it later turned out that Odin’s panic had been mostly for nothing, as even though she bled profusely, Elise was never in any danger of dying). 

The impromptu proposal boosted everyone’s morale however, and pretty soon the army found themselves back at the Deeprealm base preparing to celebrate the union of Odin and Princess Elise.

Being one of the best friends of the groom and a retainer for a sister of the bride, Selena was given a simple but elegant dress for the occasion, a sleeveless burgundy number with a tasteful v-neck, a layer of lace on top of a shiny, opaque fabric. The dress had been picked out by Camilla, who wanted everything to be perfect for her baby sister’s wedding. Camilla chose it because “it hugged her curves just right”, emphasizing her small waist. The front of the dress’s skirt ended just above her knees, the back of the skirt falling just a bit lower, showing off, as Camilla had said, “her absolutely divine legs'', because though she was short, Selena had been gifted with longer legs than torso, which also helped in making her seem taller when standing alone. Finishing the look was a pair of black heels Camilla had acquired for her, which were held to her feet by thin leather cords that wrapped around Selena’s ankles and tied into a bow, heels low enough that Selena could still walk in them, but high enough for Camilla to squeal over how delicious she looked.

Camilla had wanted to do something with Selena’s hair, but Selena adamantly refused, and was grateful that Camilla had let her keep her hair as it was normally. Once Camilla had finished obsessing over Selena’s appearance in favor of dressing up Corrin, Selena slipped out of her lady’s room, wanting to check on how Odin was doing.

Selena knocked on the door when she arrived in front of it, calling out a greeting of “are you dressed in there?” and swinging the door open when she received a positive response.

She was greeted, as expected, by a slightly nervous but exuberant Odin, and an equally excited Laslow. What she was not expecting (though in hindsight she really _should_ have expected it, the three of them had grown surprisingly close), was the presence of Arthur in the room. 

Selena felt her mouth dry up as her world narrowed down to just Arthur, dressed in a fitted navy blue dress shirt that brought attention to his well-built chest and arms, the top button at the collar undone and sleeves rolled to his elbows, finishing with black dress pants that fit oh _so_ well.

She was vaguely aware that she was staring at him, and vaguely aware that he was also staring at her, but was only broken out of her trance when Laslow cleared his throat, her face flushing intensely as her gaze snapped to the faces of a highly amused Laslow and Odin.

“Selena, how nice of you to join us,” Laslow said, his tone sounding way too pleased for her liking. “See something you like?”

“Shu-shut up. I was just checking to see how the groom is doing,” Selena stammered out. Desperate to shift their focus, Selena regarded Odin. “No cold feet?”

“Of course not, don’t be silly,” replied Odin, his attention successfully diverted. “If I were any happier I think I might die of a heart attack, but that simply won’t do.” 

“You look gorgeous by the way Selena,” Laslow chimed, not falling for her ploy. “Wouldn’t you say so Arthur?”

Shooting a glare at Laslow, a red-faced Selena looked to Arthur, his wide-eyed countenance taking on a pink hue at the attention directed by Laslow.

Arthur’s eyes trailed down her body, slowly, lingering over her waist and legs. “... Stunning...” he finally said after a beat or two of silence, licking his lips and visibly swallowing.

“R-right, well, I just wanted to check in with Odin, but clearly he’s fine so I’ll go now.”

With that, Selena spun back towards the door, eager to escape the intense scrutiny of Arthur’s gaze and ignoring the laugh coming from Laslow at her embarrassed state. 

Taking steps as wide as she could manage back to Princess Camilla’s room, Selena worked on normalizing her racing heartbeat, taking deep breaths and desperately trying to calm down. Walking into the room, Selena sat on the end of the bed, focusing on Lady Camilla’s playing dress-up with Lady Corrin, and pointedly ignoring Beruka’s questioning stare at the color that was left on her cheeks. 

Internally screaming, Selena prayed that she would not see Arthur again until after the wedding ceremony, and hoped that by that time she would not gawk at his form.

* * *

The ceremony had been beautiful, tears in the eyes of Camilla, Corrin, and Azura, and though they would vehemently deny it later, Xander and Leo had looked rather misty-eyed as well. The vows were also lovely, Odin’s of course being grandiose and long-winded as was typical of his style, though for once no one seemed to mind.

“To Odin and Elise, may they live together happily for the rest of their lives!”

Clinking her mug with Laslow and Odin’s after Laslow’s toast, Selena took a hearty swig of her beverage. The reception was in full swing and while Elise took the chance to dance with each of her siblings, Odin was tucked away in a corner in the company of the two he valued the most, just under his new wife.

Odin was glowing, there was no other way to put it, and though he was making a good attempt at conversation, his eyes were firmly glued to Elise, clearly etching the moment into his memory for eternity.

“So have you talked to her about what happens after the war?” came Selena’s voice, the question burning in her stomach finally coming out.

“I have,” replied Odin, his gaze finally turning to Selena and Laslow. “We discussed what comes next, and naturally I told her about where we actually come from and who I really am.”

“And?”

“And she was shocked of course, but she took it well. She says she wants to wait a bit before discussing post-war life, and I agreed with her, because there is no guarantee of anything until we win.”

“That’s reasonable.” said Laslow, taking another sip of his drink. “Oh, here comes your bride.”

Odin smiled brightly and turned to the approaching Elise, both their eyes sparkling with joy and adoration. 

“Odin! Come dance with me!”

“Of course my love. Excuse me you two, I have a wife to dance with.” and with that Odin stood and picked Elise up in bridal carry to the sound of wolf whistles from both Laslow and Selena, Elise laughing joyously as he carried her away.

The remaining friends watched as the newly married couple swayed together to the music, lost in each other’s eyes and surrounded by loving family and friends.

“I want that,” Laslow commented, turning to face Selena. “That happiness, that glow. I want it too.”

Selena smirked, a playful look entering her eyes. “Well if you didn’t spend time flirting with every girl you meet, maybe you’d find it.”

“Hey!” Laslow cried, indignant. “If you actually paid attention, you would know that I _haven’t_ been flirting with every woman who bats her lashes in my direction lately.”

At this Selena snorted as she took a sip of her drink. “Y’know, it’s that kind of talk that makes me wonder how you’ve never been to prison for harassment.”

Looking up to the narrowed eyes of Laslow, she returned the look. “What.”

“Anyway,”

“You can’t deny it because it’s true-”

“ANYWAY!” Laslow cried, pouting as Selena burst into laughter. He watched as her laughter died down, his expression turning serious as she finally stopped.

“So as I was saying, I _haven’t_ been flirting with every woman who crosses my path lately. In fact, I haven’t done that for a long time now.”

“Is that so?”

“Indeed. There’s only one I’ve been trying to charm.”

“Princess Azura?”

“The one and only.”

Silence fell over the two friends. Selena was looking for words when Laslow continued. “I’m planning on proposing to her soon.” 

Selena gasped at the revelation, calling him by his true name in her surprise. “Inigo! Really?!”

“Shh! Selena!” Laslow hissed. Looking around to make sure no one heard her, Laslow glared at her. “Keep it _down_!”

“I’m sorry,” Selena apologized, “I’m just... shocked!”

A short pause followed, and a calmer Selena continued. “So you really found someone, huh?

“I have,” Laslow responded, a dreamy look overtaking his features. “Honestly I can’t wait for the day that she is mine, and I’m her’s.” 

“She has to accept your proposal first, you know.”

“I do know,” said Laslow, a small frown replacing his former expression, “and to be frank, I’m afraid she may reject me, but I have already confessed my affections for her once, which she reciprocated. She’s likely to accept, and I’m probably just anxious for no reason.”

Selena smiled, a real, genuine smile. “I’m happy for you, Inigo.” she said quietly, patting his hand.

“Thank you, Severa.”

The two of them sat in silence once more, again watching Odin and Elise.

After a moment, Laslow turned back to Selena, mischief on his face. “So, how’s it going with you? Any success in your love life?”

Selena turned a glare on Laslow, but blushed and looked away when it was apparent that he wouldn’t back down. “No, no I haven’t,” she said, rather forcefully and completely unconvincingly. “No one here has caught my interest.”

Shaking his head, Laslow sighed and gave Selena an exasperated look. “Still playing that game are we?”

Glancing around at the crowd, Laslow spotted an interaction that caught his interest. “Oh look, it seems that Arthur is talking with that Charlotte woman.”

Head snapping in the direction Laslow was looking, Selena scowled when she caught sight of the two talking, taking a big gulp of her ale to hide her expression. 

“Okay? And what of it?” she said after coming up from her drink.

“Oh, nothing really, I just heard they’ve been getting awfully friendly lately is all.” Biting back a smirk, Laslow continued. “Y’know, I heard from a _very_ reliable source that Charlotte is going to try and bed Arthur tonight.”

Taking in her appearance, Laslow grinned outright. If looks could start fires, the glare Selena directed at the surface of the table would have set it ablaze.

“Is that so?” Selena said, her tone suspiciously close to a growl, “Because I heard that she was trying to get into _your_ charge’s bed.”

“Tch, old news,” he replied airly, “besides, Milord has already made it explicitly clear to that girl he’s not interested, and to leave him alone.”

“Not to mention,” Laslow continued, “It would seem he has taken an interest in that darling Hoshidan farm girl, what’s her name?”

“Mozu?”

“Mozu! Yes, that’s the one. If you watch him when they talk, he’s clearly interested in her, but his technique is rather lacking. I offered to give him some pointers, but he refused, which is a shame since all this knowledge will soon be useless to me.”

“Don’t let Azura hear you talk like that.”

“As I said,” Laslow said, waving off Selena’s comment, “Charlotte has her eye on Arthur, and I _know_ this is reliable because while I was passing the bathhouse yesterday, I heard the source herself proclaiming rather loudly that her plan is to ply him with _just_ enough drinks to get his defenses down, and then strike!”

Selena had been taking a sip from her tankard as Laslow had been speaking, and sucked in a breath when he got to the end of his statement, causing her to cough violently.

“What?!”

Laslow was again smirking as she struggled to breathe, simply sitting back and watching as her coughs died off. “It’s true,” he said once she was looking at him with alarm, “so you’d better make _your_ move now, before the chance is gone.”

Selena said nothing, but looked back at Charlotte and Arthur, the former laughing at something that was said while touching Arthur’s arm.

“Even if I wanted to, I... don’t know how.” Selena whispered, just barely audible to her companion.

Laslow snorted as if amused. “Nonsense, of course you do.” Leaning back in his chair, Laslow continued. “You can do it in three easy steps. Step one, approach him. Step two, get him alone. And then step three, you use your womanly charms and confess to him.”

Selena looked confused by the last point, and Laslow simply rolled his eyes and added before she could comment, “You pounce, Selena, that’s what I mean.”

Straightening his dress shirt, Laslow got up and turned to Selena one last time, and seeing that she still seemed confused (and frankly, Laslow wasn’t surprised since she had never been the type to dabble in that kind of behavior), patted her on the shoulder. “I believe in you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have the love of my life to find for a few dances.”

Having said what he intended, Laslow walked off, disappearing into the celebration, leaving a beet red Selena sitting alone.

Perhaps it was the amount of ale that she had partaken in, or perhaps the sudden fear festering in her belly, but Selena made up her mind and stood, intent on interrupting Charlotte’s supposed plot.

Staggering from her slight intoxication, Selena righted herself, took a deep breath, and made her way over to her destination, her posture more confident than she was actually feeling.

Stopping in front of them, Selena cleared her throat, gaining the attention of Charlotte and Arthur, who were standing way too close for Selena to be comfortable with.

“Selena! There you are, I was just telling Charlotte how you have been helping me with my luck. It seems she herself has been having an unlucky streak lately, and I was suggesting she ask you for assistance!”

“Um, yeah, sure Arthur,” Selena replied weakly, realizing with horror that Laslow had been right as Charlotte surreptitiously placed a full tankard into Arthur’s hand. “Hey, uh, can I talk to you?” Selena asked, pointedly ignoring the way that Charlotte was glaring daggers at her. “ _Alone_? Outside?” she emphasized when Charlotte made no move to leave.

“Of course Selena, lead the way!” Arthur said loudly. “I’m afraid I must take my leave, Charlotte.”

“Ohoho, it’s not a problem, Sir Arthur.” Charlotte said sweetly, almost causing Selena to gag. Charlotte’s sweet expression turned murderous as she locked eyes with Selena, who simply smirked, holding back the urge to stick her tongue out at the harpy.

Instead, Selena watched triumphantly as Charlotte stomped away. Looking up at Arthur and meeting his expectant gaze, Selena realized that what she had thought would be difficult turned out to be the easy part, and steeling herself, turned to lead Arthur away from the party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was much longer than usual. About 1,000 words longer than I usually allow, so sorry if that dragged. Also, sorry if the conversation between Laslow and Selena was a bit long, I wanted it to seem to progress naturally, and I also just couldn’t help but throw in a nod to my absolute OTP of FE: Fates OTPs, which is Xander/Mozu. I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself. 
> 
> This is also the last chapter before they 'do the do' so to speak, which is why I didn’t break this into two (besides there not really being a good place to break it).
> 
> Next time we’ll get to the sexy stuff. Like I said at the beginning of the chapter, it will take longer to write most likely, and I want to do it right, so please don’t be surprised if I don’t update for a day or two.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sexy times. Sorry it took so long to get this out, I can't stress enough that I've never written a scene like this before, so it was hella uncomfortable for a while to get my thoughts out.

* * *

Acutely aware of Arthur following behind her, Selena walked out of the mess-hall-turned-wedding-hall into the crisp night air a nervous mess. Taking a deep breath, she turned to face him, only to lose her nerve when their eyes met.

“Um, let’s uh, let’s take a walk Arthur.” she stammered out, gaze turning to the ground to avoid his stare, his eyes suddenly more strikingly blue than she had ever seen before. Not waiting for a response, Selena walked off in a random direction, trying to calm the butterflies in her stomach.

Arthur was blessedly silent beside her, waiting for her to initiate a conversation, while she quickly got lost in her thoughts.

_ “Okay, calm down, you can do this. Just tell him you like him, it’s not that hard. It’s not like you’ve NEVER done this before, you had that thing with that guard recruit back in Ylisse way back when. But then again I didn’t actually initiate most of that. He took the lead and I just followed along. I don’t know what I’m doing! No, no just calm down, deep breaths. What was it that Laslow said? Three steps, right. And look, you’ve already got steps one and two down, approach and get him alone. Now step three. What was step three? Something about womanly charms? I don’t even know how to do any of that stuff! Well I guess the main point of that step was confession, so dammit girl just tell him how you feel and you can get on with life. Oh, but what if he rejects me? Oh my gods that would be so embarrassing, what if he REJECTS me??? Wait, wait, but you saw how he looked at you before the wedding, that has to mean something, right? Still, it could’ve been my imagination, and honestly I’m not sure that it  _ **_wasn't_ ** _ my imagination. Oh gods, I can’t do this. I’ll just make something up that could be reasonable to have to say in private, and then we can go back to the party and-” _

“Selena?”

Stopping in her tracks, Selena’s gaze shot up to meet Arthur’s, his face lined with concern.

“Huh?”

“Selena, are you alright?... You’re shaking.”

Sure enough, as Selena looked down at her hands and again became aware of her body, she realized that he was right, and that she was practically vibrating.

“U-um, I’m just, I-I’m just cold.” Selena stuttered out. “Yeah, I’m cold. Let’s just go back to the party.” 

“Didn’t you want to tell me something though?” Arthur asked, oblivious to Selena’s internal state. “Let’s go to my room, you can warm up and tell me whatever it was you wanted to say there.”

Looking around at her surroundings, Selena realized that they had managed to walk rather far away from everyone else, and they were in fact right by the army dorms.

Internally screaming, Selena slowly followed in Arthur’s footsteps, trying to put off the seemingly inevitable encounter as long as possible.

Once inside, Selena sat down on his bed, her legs at this point barely functioning to keep her standing. Her gaze traveled to Arthur, only to snap to the floor in embarrassment when she saw his curious expression.

_ “Ican’tdothisIcan’tdothisIcan’tdothisIcan’tdothisIcan’tdothisIcan’tdothisIcan’tdothisIcan’tdothis-” _

A hand on her shoulder broke her out of her panicked line of thought, and Selena realized that Arthur had sat down next to her, concern evident on his face. “Selena, are you okay? You’re starting to hyperventilate.”

As Selena made eye contact, she noticed the flick of his eyes down her body, quickly returning to her face. A sudden spark of hope ignited in her, because while she was a little bit tipsy, she  _ definitely _ didn’t imagine that, and  _ this _ was something she knew how to deal with. Laslow’s words suddenly echoed in her head.  _ “Step three, you pounce!” _

“...pounce...” she mumbled, not breaking eye contact with Arthur.

“What was tha-”

“Arthur,” Selena cut off, frowning, “Shut up.”

“Selena, really, are you oka-”

The rest of Arthur’s sentence died on his lips as Selena shifted, her arms circling his head as she suddenly straddled him. “Arthur, shut up.”

Selena took a deep breath, her red face betraying her lingering embarrassment. Looking straight into his eyes, she spoke. “Arthur... I want you... do you want me too?”

Arthur let out a shaky exhale of the breath that he was holding in his shock. After a beat of silence and an audible swallow, he responded, his tone soft but firm. “...Yes...”

A lusty grin formed on Selena’s face, and surging forward, her lips met his in a hungry kiss, any trace of hesitation gone as her hands buried themselves in his hair and his hands found her hips.

Years old memories of how to perform rushed into consciousness as the tip of Arthur’s tongue brushed against her lips, and Selena eagerly welcomed him into her mouth, tasting the ale he drank that night as she swirled her tongue over his, moaning into the union of mouths and tongues.

Selena withdrew slightly, biting Arthur’s bottom lip gently before she moved to kiss the base of an ear, trailing kisses down to his neck and gently nipping and sucking as she went, the salty taste and musky smell of his skin stoking her need for him. Her hands moved to grip his shoulders, returning her attention to his mouth as she rolled her hips against his growing erection, relishing in the groan and the tightening of his hold on her that the movement elicited.

Selena broke the kiss again, panting as she drank in Arthur’s visage, his pupils blown with desire and lips wet and bruised. Maintaining eye contact, she rolled her hips a second time, grinning devilishly as his eyes closed and he pulled her in, the sound of another moan sending a bolt of arousal to her core.

Holding her close, Arthur brushed his lips against her collarbone, his hands trailing up her body and finding and pulling the zipper to her dress down. The exposure to the cool air of the room resulted in a sharp intake of breath from Selena, and she bit back a moan at the feeling of his rough, calloused hands against the smooth skin of her back.

Arthur’s tender touch trailed down her backside and thighs, warming Selena’s heart, and she nuzzled into Arthur’s neck before her dress was pulled up and over her head, forgotten as soon as it dropped to the floor.

Arthur kissed her again, holding her steady as he suddenly stood up, the exhilarating change in elevation causing her legs to wrap around his waist. Arthur carefully laid her out on the bed, and Selena felt her desire pooling in her belly as Arthur simply hovered over her for a beat, his eyes darkening with lust as he took in the sight of her nearly naked form on his bed. 

“Beautiful.” He whispered, a hand coming up to caress her face, first her cheeks flushing at the contact, then his when she gently grasped his wrist and turned her head to plant a kiss on his palm.

Reaching up, her hands then fisted in his shirt as she dragged him down again into a rough, heated kiss and arched into him, desperate to feel him against her. One of Arthur’s hands trailed downward, teasing the hem of her panties and drawing a moan from Selena.

With a strength surprising for her size, Selena flipped them over, amused at the brief look of surprise on Arthur’s face. Selena laid her body on him, keeping her pelvis floating tantalizingly close over his as she ran a hand through his hair, then braced herself against his chest as she lifted her body up and seated herself solidly over the bulge in his pants, the both of them crying out at the sudden contact. 

Selena shifted slightly, seating herself more firmly on Arthur and enjoying the throb of his member against her as she took a moment to recompose herself, breathing heavily. Leaning over, she took her time undoing the buttons on his dress shirt, kissing the skin that was revealed as it was slowly uncovered. Selena began tracing patterns over his skin, reveling in his heavy pants and the guttural moan he emitted when she ran her hands up his bare torso, catching the end of it as she melded their mouths together. Caressing his tongue with hers, she was caught off guard when she felt her bra being removed and thrown to the side with her dress, Arthur taking the moment to flip them back over, his shirt joining the already discarded clothes.

Arthur then leaned over Selena, running his hands up the length of her body to gently fondle her breasts, drawing out a tantalizing series of moans and whimpers. Selena gasped when she felt his hot, wet mouth close over a nipple, gently manipulating it with his tongue and teeth, licking and sucking and biting to the tune of her needy whines, her hands weaving into his hair, tugging slightly as he turned his attentions to the other breast and brought a knee up in-between her legs.

Arthur continued his ministrations as Selena ground frantically against his knee, desperate for more friction to soothe the ache between her legs, squinting and panting in her pleasured haze. Arthur pulled back, glancing at her face and chuckling at her whines of protest, and kissed his way down her torso to one of her legs, undoing the bow holding her shoe to her foot, and kissing his way back up her leg once the heel was discarded.

Selena huffed in frustration when Arthur avoided the part of her that needed the most attention at that moment, opting instead to kiss his way down her other leg and remove her other shoe. 

Impatient, Selena sat up, and hurriedly began to help Arthur remove his pants and undergarments, tugging at his belt and zipper insistently, and cursing ferociously when it got stuck. Arthur himself looked frustrated and also slightly embarrassed, but Selena ignored this in favor of tearing the zipper apart, ruining the pants, but getting to that which she so desperately desired.

Her mouth watered at the sight of his cock when it finally sprang loose, a drop of precum already gathering at the tip. Unwilling to wait any longer, Selena shimmied out of her panties, only just remembering to mutter a contraceptive spell before pulling Arthur down with her, legs spread and open, eager to continue.

Arthur seemed to hesitate, though only momentarily when Selena reached down to stroke him, and he began to tease her entrance with the tip of his prick, Selena squirming against him, so achingly close to what she wanted and yet frustratingly out of reach as she tried to press into him, Arthur pulling back just enough to keep the head seated on her folds. 

“Arthur...” she pleaded, uncaring of how desperate she sounded in that instance.

“Are you ready?” came his voice, a low growl that had Selena nodding frantically, shivering in anticipation.

With her consent secured, Arthur slowly guided himself in, hissing at the almost too tight squeeze of her cunt. Selena herself was panting, seeing stars from the luxurious feeling of her inner walls being stretched, moaning wantonly when Arthur bottomed out, the tip of his cock pressing against her cervix in  _ just _ the right way.

Arthur stilled, seemingly collecting himself when Selena began shifting against him, a silent command to  _ move _ . Arthur pulled back slowly, and one of his hands found hers, lacing their fingers together as Selena’s other hand gripped the pillow under her head. 

Arthur pulled out until just the head of his cock remained in her, and again paused, leaving Selena frustrated with his hesitation. She had words of encouragement in her mouth when Arthur slid back in, the words coming out instead as a jumbled mess of curses and moans, the friction between them sending sparks through her veins, and suddenly Arthur’s hesitation was gone.

Arthur paid careful attention to Selena’s every breath, moan, and expression as he picked an easy, leisurely pace, but Selena wanted more. Grabbing him by the waist, she pulled him in hard and fast, and Arthur got the message, pulling out slowly once more before he snapped his hips forward, setting a rough pace that left Selena gasping for breath but meeting him thrust for thrust all the same.

Selena let out a protracted moan as she was pounded into the bed, her nails raking across Arthur’s back, the sound of his grunts and groans in her ear turning her on even more and causing the pressure growing in her to build even faster. 

She was close, teetering just on the edge of oblivion when she felt Arthur’s thrusts grow erratic, racing towards his own finish as he buried his face into her neck, sucking and biting as he did so. That was the last push she needed, and soon Selena was screaming her release, legs wrapping around Arthur’s waist tightly as he took a few more thrusts and found his own climax, drawing out Selena’s as she felt him pulse and spill inside her.

They laid there in the afterglow for a minute or two, their breathing slowly returning to normal. Once their heartbeats had resumed a steady pace, Selena unraveled her legs from his waist, and Arthur gently pulled out of her, some of the fluids from their coupling spilling out onto the sheets as he did so.

Selena rolled on her side to face him, grinning lazily as he kissed her forehead, one of his arms wrapping around her waist to pull her close, and pretty soon the both of them drifted off into a satisfied and peaceful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And done. First ever sex scene I’ve written, and it’s finally done. You have no idea how hard this was to write at first. I would literally write a sentence, two max, then put my face in my hands in absolute embarrassment, and then fuck off for ten minutes or more and then write another sentence or two, etc etc. I actually read some stuff on how to write a better sex scene and was suddenly inspired, and came up with this, so I hope it wasn't too bad.
> 
> Also as a warning, please don’t hate me for the morning after, it is written that way for a reason.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the morning after.

* * *

As Selena began waking up from the restful sleep she had been in, she knew instantly that something was off. For one, she was not in her own bed. Blinking her eyes open, she assessed what was in front of her, and realized that she was not in her own room. 

As she slowly became more aware of her surroundings, she realized that not only was she completely naked, there was also an arm draped over her waist, and her heart froze with dread. Carefully turning over, she was met with the face of a still sleeping Arthur. 

Eyes widening, she remembered the impulsive action that led up to her current position, and inwardly groaned in embarrassment. How could she have done that? Selena was a very firm believer that certain things had a certain order of progression that must be followed, and no matter how much alcohol was involved, what happened last night was _not_ the way it was supposed to go, no matter how much she enjoyed it.

Panicking, Selena carefully slipped out of the bed, quickly finding her bra and panties and donning them, then throwing the dress over herself, foregoing putting on her shoes entirely. Looking back and ensuring that Arthur was still asleep, Selena tiptoed to the door, and carefully closed it behind her as she left.

Looking around to make sure she was alone, Selena let out a sigh of relief, remembering the wedding from the night before, and grateful that it seemed everyone was still asleep, as the area around her was devoid of life.

Even as early as it was, Selena was deathly afraid of being caught in the clothes she wore the night before, and began quickly walking away from Arthur’s room towards her own, her pace increasing until she was full-on sprinting back to her quarters.

Breathing heavily, Selena slammed the door behind her once she made it to her room, feeling slightly safer now that she was there. Locking the door, she dropped her shoes on the floor, and Selena stripped out of the dress and undergarments once more, slipping into clean underwear and her sleep clothes.

Selena put her hands up to her face once she fell into her bed, her complexion a deep red and groaning in embarrassment. _“Stupid stupid stupid. Whyyyy did I do that?! Oh gods I’m going to die of embarrassment the next time I see him... Maybe I can pretend that nothing happened? I’ll just blame it on the ale if he asks, yeah. Fuck, I really messed up. I’ll just stay here for a while, let things cool off a bit, maybe he’ll think he dreamed the whole thing up.”_

Crawling under the covers, Selena closed her eyes, determined to sleep away the entire day, the mantra of “ _I am not a coward_ ” echoing in her head as she tried to convince herself she was not avoiding Arthur. 

* * *

Selena was no stranger to hunger, having lived a good portion of her life constantly hungry, but it had been a long while since that was the case and as such she could only ignore the familiar belly aches for so long before she reluctantly sought out nourishment the next day.

She had managed to sneak into the bathhouse in the early hours of that morning when everyone was asleep, washing off any leftover evidence from two nights before, but was unable at that time to get anything to eat. 

Unlocking her door, Selena peeked outside, breathing a sigh of relief when she did not see the man she was definitely _not_ avoiding. Leaving the safety of her room dressed as she would any other day, though her collar slightly higher and fastened a bit tighter as if to avoid revealing the neck underneath, Selena headed straight for the mess hall, feeling as though everyone she passed knew what had happened. 

She was halfway to her destination when the familiar voice of Laslow called out to her, and she hesitantly turned to face him, avoiding his eye contact as he approached.

“Selena, good afternoon! Where have you been? I didn’t see you at all yesterday and you weren’t at breakfast this morning, so I was worried. Are you alright?”

“Yeah I’m _fine_ ,” Selena snapped, her words coming out harsher than she meant them to. “What do you want?”

“...Selena? What’s going on?” Laslow asked cautiously, and Selena cursed how transparent she was to him.

“Nothing is going on, I’m fine.” she said in a gentler, but still obviously agitated tone, hoping she would be able to convince him that indeed nothing was going on, and that she was in fact fine.

Laslow stared at her, clearly weighing the pros and cons of whether it was worth pushing the subject or not. It seemed he decided on the latter, as he shrugged and asked if she was going to lunch, which she responded to in the affirmative.

The two of them walked the rest of the way to the mess hall, Selena oddly silent and Laslow doing his best not to comment on that. Selena was watching the ground as it passed under her, and so didn’t notice the approach of the one she _definitely wasn’t_ avoiding, until Laslow sounded a greeting to him.

Selena’s head snapped up when Arthur’s return greeting reached her ears, turning pink as he approached and looking anywhere but his face.

“Arthur, what splendid timing,” Laslow said, unaware of Selena’s awkwardness, “We were just about to get lunch, care to join us?”

“Oh, uh, sure. That is of course, um, if Selena is okay with it.” Arthur replied, stumbling over his words.

Laslow tilted his head slightly, one eyebrow raised.“Of course it’s fine,” he said, looking at her, “right Selena? Why wouldn’t it be?” he questioned, the beginnings of confusion blooming on his face.

“...Did something happen between you two?” Laslow asked after a beat of silence, gaze flickering between the two of them, just noticing that Arthur was seemingly absorbed in examining the roof of the mess hall, and Selena’s gaze was attempting to set the dirt beneath her on fire, the two of them pointedly not making eye contact.

“Nothing happened Laslow, but mind your own business.” snapped Selena, her glare shifting to Laslow as she stared him down. “You go ahead and find us some space, we’ll be with you shortly. I have something to say to Arthur.”

“...Right, okay then.” Laslow said, now definitely aware of the awkward air they were both giving off. “I’ll get us a table... I’ll see you inside.” and with that turned and entered the mess hall, curious about what Selena had to say but very eager to get away from the uncomfortable vibe surrounding them.

Glaring after him until she was sure he had gone inside, Selena rubbed her forehead and sighed, turning to face Arthur.

“Selena... you wanted to speak with me?” Arthur asked, seemingly attempting to put on an air of normality.

“Y-yeah, I did,” Selena muttered, turning pink and dropping her eyes again. “I guess I just... wanted to ask how you’re doing?”

“I’m doing as well as I can be I suppose,” Arthur replied, a slightly embarrassed expression on his face. “And you?”

“Ah, um, yeah I’m good... and everything is okay with us?”

At the question posed, Arthur hesitated for a moment, but then quickly responded. “Yes... everything is fine.”

“Good,” Selena said, looking at the ground. “The last thing I want is for things to be awkward between us or something.”

Selena looked back up, making eye contact with him for the first time during their conversation. “W-well, Laslow is waiting, so... let’s go I guess.”

“Of course. If I recall they’re also serving your favorite dish today Selena.”

Grateful for the normality he was attempting, Selena smiled at Arthur, and just like that the air between them was suddenly much less tense, an echo of how it was before the wedding. A grin made its way across Arthur’s face, and feeling slightly better Selena turned and entered the mess hall, Arthur following close behind, the awkwardness between them barely there as they joined Laslow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so they’re not talking about what happened, because Selena/Severa is an idiot who can’t express herself properly, and Arthur is an idiot who is too passive and waits for Selena/Severa to initiate everything. As the story continues, I will try my best to show some evolution of the two of them, Selena/Severa learning to talk about emotions and other hard topics and Arthur learning to be more assertive for himself. That is my goal at least for their character development.
> 
> I also want to make VERY CLEAR, that while both Selena and Arthur were slightly drunk, it was NOT to the point that they didn't know what they were doing. They both knew what was happening, and they had only drunk enough that their inhibitions were lowered. They were both completely aware of what was going on, and completely in their right minds to have stopped it should either of them wanted to. Consent is VERY important to me, so I want to make it EXCRUCIATINGLY CLEAR that consent was able to be given, and it was given, and that the whole thing was consensual.
> 
> And I know this might be a confusing ‘end’ to all the previous chapters’ buildup, but I promise that it is super important to the plot that these two suffer from their stupidity. Actually the whole main plot pretty much depends on their miscommunications. You’ll understand (hopefully) when we get there.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter wasn’t originally planned in at all, but I figure we need to address some of the ‘why’ of the conflict to make the next bits make some sense.
> 
> WARNING: This chapter mentions past sexual trauma at the hands of an unnamed castle guard rando. What happened is that...
> 
> ...Severa liked a castle guard recruit in her original timeline, and he took advantage of her infatuation and slept with her, leading her on into thinking it was something more than it was. As Laslow puts it in the chapter, this man taught Selena “sex without romance”, which is why Selena acted the way she did with Arthur, because she doesn’t quite know how to properly flirt with and woo a person, but she does know how to sleep with them. It is also mentioned that this guard did some things with Cynthia too, which will be touched on in a later chapter as well. If this is something you don’t want to read, skip this chapter, what I mentioned above is all you really need to know as to why Selena acted the way she did.
> 
> Important notes at the end.

* * *

A rare day of cloudy weather was hanging over the Nohrian army base, and Arthur and Selena were speaking, conversing about something or other, from the sounds of it planning Selena’s next shopping trip, unaware that they were being spied on.

Laslow watched and listened to what he could carefully. Ever since he was a child, but more so once his mother told him to try flirting with girls to get over himself, he had watched and learned from other people’s mannerisms on how to interact with people, shy as he naturally was. As such he considered himself quite capable of reading people, especially people he knew well. 

Selena happened to be one of those people he considered quite close to him so he could read her like a children’s book, and while Laslow didn’t have the same years of knowledge of him, Laslow had all the same come to consider Arthur a good, close friend, and was able to read him fairly accurately. 

Laslow continued watching and listening as the two wrapped up their conversation, and in his eyes awkwardly parting, each headed in their own direction. Something was not right. He could feel it every time he was with the two of them, and he saw it in their every action, heard it in every one of the words they passed to each other. 

It had started two days after Odin and Princess Elise’s wedding. He knew something was wrong when he first spoke with Selena, her tone of voice and sharp words of greeting somehow off, despite her usually being a prickly person. He didn’t quite know  _ what _ was wrong, but he knew it all the same. Once they encountered Arthur however, he realized that something had occurred between the two of them, something that had them walking on eggshells around each other, a certain skittishness hanging over them that they covered up decently, but was glaringly obvious to Laslow.

From that first moment of awkwardness, Laslow kept a careful eye on them, curious as to what had gone wrong between them. He didn’t want to alert either of them that he could see through them immediately, however, so he had been watching and listening for the past two weeks, patiently gathering his evidence so he had a strong case to present when he cornered one of them.

But he was only so patient, and had decided that enough was enough, and that he ought to get to the bottom of whatever this was. 

Arthur wasn’t the type to gossip, and so he would most likely not reveal what the problem was since it involved another person. No, Laslow decided that he would have a better chance of finding out from Selena, though he would have to strike hard and strike quickly, painfully aware that he had only one chance of finding out what was going on, or she would clam up and never give up the secret.

His mind made up and the plan of attack decided, Laslow went after Selena, catching up to her just as she slipped into her room. Trotting up to the door, Laslow knocked three times, waiting for her to open up.

The door swung open, and Selena seemed surprised to see him. “Laslow?”

“Selena, I was wondering if I could get your advice on something, can I come in?”

Selena looked slightly suspicious, but took the bait. “Sure, I guess.”

“Excellent.” Laslow replied, walking into the room and shutting the door behind him.

“So what is it you wanted to talk about?” Selena asked, arms crossed in a way that read as defensive and on guard to Laslow.

“Oh, well you see,” Laslow started, taking on a serious attitude to put her off-kilter, “I was wondering if you could help me figure out a way to propose to Azura.”

“Oh, okay. Sure. What have you got in mind so far?” Selena asked. Laslow hummed, walking to her bed and sitting down in an effort to appear smaller and non-threatening.

“Well, so far I was thinking of choreographing a dance for her, and then proposing afterward.” Laslow said, noting that Selena’s barriers were slowly coming down as she stepped closer and dropped her arms.

“That seems like a good idea,” Selena mused, “Are you going to take her to a nice dinner beforehand?”

“Yes, and then a scenic walk to an area set up for the dance.” Laslow answered, preparing to strike.

“Yeah, that seems like a good plan. What else you got?”

“Well, that’s actually the  _ only _ plan I have. Do you think it’ll work?”

“Mmm yeah I guess that’ll be good,” Selena said, now completely at ease and oblivious to the oncoming trap. “Was that all you wanted to talk about?”

“Well I also wanted to check in with you, to be honest.” Laslow began, the attack commencing. “Will you be alright by yourself? I know Odin is in his honeymoon phase, and I will no doubt be the same way once Azura and I marry.”

“Ah, but then again you’ll have Arthur to keep you company, won’t you?” Laslow finished, hoping she would bite.

“Um, yeah...right, yeah I will.” Selena answered hesitantly, a nervous look overtaking her features.

“Selena... did something happen between you two?”

“Well... sorta...”

“Did he reject your confession?” Laslow bluntly asked, straight to the point but in a gentle tone, as if coaxing a kitten from hiding.

“Not... exactly. I didn’t actually confess anything.”

And the trap snapped shut, though not with the answer he was expecting.

“What?”

Laslow was confused. He was so sure it had something to do with her confessing her feelings to Arthur, but she  _ hadn’t  _ confessed? What exactly happened then?

After a beat of silence from Selena, Laslow asked again. “I don’t understand, if you didn’t confess your feelings, why are you two acting so strangely around each other?”

“We aren’t acting strangely,” Selena protested feebly, “There’s nothing different in the way we act around each other.”

Laslow scoffed. “Selena, you could cut the tension with a knife it’s so thick. Something happened between you two and if you didn’t confess your feelings then I’m at a loss as to what it could-”

“We fucked!” Selena shouted, everything that she had been bottling up being released all at once. “I didn’t confess my feelings and we fucked instead, that’s why it’s so awkward. Are you happy?”

Laslow was not. At least, not yet, as clearly he didn’t have the whole story. “I don’t understand, if you two had sex, how could you not have confessed? What happened?”

“I didn’t confess because I was nervous and I didn’t know what to do when you said ‘use your womanly charms on him’, but I remembered you said the third step was to ‘pounce’ and I was tipsy so I sat in his lap and then we fucked, and then I freaked out the next morning and left while he was still sleeping.”

Laslow sat in stunned silence. He knew Selena had next to no experience actually wooing a person, but he didn’t think she was this clueless.

“Selena...” Laslow murmured as he put his face in his hand. “...The third step was supposed to be a confession. How the hell did you screw it up?”

“Like I said, my inhibitions were lowered and I was nervous.” Selena said defensively. Clutching her arm, Selena looked down, trying to hide her eyes, though Laslow still managed to catch the regret and uncertainty lurking there. “What do I do now?”

Laslow sighed. “Selena... you talk to him of course. You apologize for leaving while he was sleeping, you explain that you panicked, and you _ confess that you like him _ .”

Selena sighed, still looking at the ground. After a few beats of silence, Selena spoke, her voice timid and fragile. “Do you think I’m broken?”

Laslow blinked twice, surprised at the question. “Well, I think all of us are a little broken, wouldn’t you say?”

“Inigo...you know what I’m talking about.”

Sighing softly, because he  _ did _ know what she was talking about, Laslow got up and approached her, wrapping her in a hug. “I don’t think you’re broken. It’s not your fault that _stupid_ guard took advantage of your naïveté and taught you about sex without romance, do you understand? You couldn’t have known he was using you that way.”

“I'm just... I’m scared of being that open with someone again. I don’t want to explain why I did what I did because I don’t want to be looked down on for my past. And normally I just act like a harsh person because it’s easier, and then no one wants to get close to you... but I don’t want to act harshly with Arthur, because I  _ really like him _ . I’m scared I messed this up completely.”

“Severa,” Laslow said gently, hugging her a little tighter, “No one back home blamed you or looked down on you for what happened. If you recall, we all rallied around you and Cynthia when what was happening came to light. If I’m honest, we were all really upset for you two, and when your personality seemed to change, well... It was heartbreaking, to be frank.”

Patting her back, Laslow continued. “I know that what happened still haunts you, but it is okay to want to have an emotional connection with someone, and furthermore after everything that’s happened I think it’s good that you found someone you really like. While you did screw up a bit, I do think it’s salvageable, and if you just explain yourself to Arthur, I really think he’d understand. He’s a good man Severa, and I think everyone back home would agree... and I think your parents would’ve been happy for you too.”

Hearing her start to sniff, Laslow broke the hug, tilting Selena’s head gently to look up at him. Sure enough, there were tears gathering in her eyes, a melancholy look distorting her features. Knowing she hated being seen crying, but aware that she would still need his support, Laslow hugged her again. “Do you want me to go find Owain too?” he asked, rubbing soothing circles on her back.

Selena was at this point desperately choking back tears and simply nodded, eager to get Laslow out the door to have a moment to herself, which Laslow thankfully picked up on, and quickly left to find their other friend, mercifully not looking back as the first of Selena’s tears began to fall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, that was actually a really tough chapter for me to write, because I used some of my own life experience as Selena’s backstory. I hope this makes Selena’s actions make more sense. She’s scared of being emotionally vulnerable with someone, and after being taken advantage of, can you blame her? Obviously Arthur isn’t like this, but all the same she is scared, perhaps more so because this is a person she really, truly likes, and really didn’t want to screw it up, despite doing exactly that.
> 
> As far as the small mention that her “personality changed” after the incident, you can’t tell me that with Henry as her father, she wouldn’t have otherwise turned out to be a sweet girl. If Henry is her dad in Awakening, his epilogue even says that he turned out to be a surprisingly good father and his Severa turned out to be quite a pleasant girl. So this is my reasoning for part of the reason she is how she is (you know, besides the whole both parents dying and fighting a war against an evil dragon and leaving her timeline to prevent what happened from happening in another).
> 
> I do also want to say that I take back the whole “Selena/Severa is an idiot who can’t express herself” bit that I said. She’s a trauma victim that is scared. I apologize if this chapter got anyone mad in light of my previous comments, I truly meant no harm. Like I said, I’ve been using some of my past as Selena/Severa’s backstory for this story, so in calling her “an idiot” I was really referring to my own frustrations with my own relationships, and my seeming inability to ‘take the leap’ so to speak with people. Writing this chapter made me realize that I still have a lot to work through myself.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here’s an Arthur-centric chapter, because we haven’t checked in with him in a while and I wanted to see the situation from his point of view. Also there’s some smut, so be aware of that.
> 
> For the rest of this arc (there are three), it gets kinda sad, and arc two is also a bit sad, so just a heads up. Arc three is happy though, this story is meant to have a happy ending, and that will not change.
> 
> And you may have noticed that I changed the fic summary a bit, from “the road to reunion is treacherous” to “the road to reunion is filled with heartache”. Sorry about that change, to be honest that was what I wrote when I was planning the story, and couldn’t think of the appropriate word. But I found it now!

* * *

Arthur considered himself a good person. After all, he tried to help everyone he could, always trying to look after others (even though perhaps it was he himself who needed looking after), not because he was looking for recognition, but simply because he had been taught by his parents to do what he thought was right.

His mother had always said  _ “Be kind to others, you don’t know what they’re going through, what path they have walked” _ , and so Arthur did what he could to remain open-minded and understanding of people’s lives. Perhaps the only boon to his bad luck was that it made it easier for him to empathize with others, made it easier to offer a helping hand to anyone who needed it, even if that same offer wasn’t returned.

He had been used to this cycle. He helped someone, they kept their distance, wary of his bad luck latching onto them and following them around as if it were some sentient force that could be provoked. Things were fine, things were predictable. But then Selena came along.

Selena, who was ornery and highly competitive, with a sharp wit and sharper tongue. Selena, who had just shown up one day at Castle Krakenburg with two others in tow and was almost immediately placed as a retainer for one of the royal children. Selena, who was a mystery, a riddle whose clues made little sense and seemingly contradicted themselves. She had come into his life and turned it upside down, attempting to help improve his luck with no reward except having him carry her shopping bags, and little by little Arthur got to know her better.

He learned that despite her temperamental disposition and harsh words, she was an extremely caring individual, willing to do whatever it took to keep the ones she valued safe. He learned that she was competitive because she had something to prove, if only to herself, that she was just as good as her ‘genius’ mother. He learned that she had a knack for magic that her father had encouraged, and that she was just as adept at hexing a person to death as she was at slicing them open with her sword. He learned her favorite color was the color of a raven’s feathers, like the ones her father had kept. He learned her favorite dish was bear stew, and that she was also fond of sweets. All these little details made up who she was, and little by little Arthur found himself falling in love with her.

By the time he realized this, it was too late to try and stop it from happening, and Arthur resigned himself to being content with her friendship, because there was no way he could see her wanting anything to do with him romantically given how much trouble he could bring with him, and he didn’t want to risk losing her company if he told her how he felt. So on the night of his charge’s wedding, he was understandably shocked when she sat herself in his lap and said she wanted him.

What had happened afterward was the stuff of dreams, at least for him, and though it had been the first time he had actually gotten that far with a woman, it seemed like she had a good time as well. They had fallen asleep together that night, but when he awoke she was gone, the only evidence of their encounter being the marks and scratches that littered his neck and back, and the dried stain of their fluids on his bedspread.

At first he was confused, then hurt, and then finally ashamed, because while he had still been able to think clearly that night, he hadn’t actually made sure that she was able to as well, and sleeping with a woman who couldn’t properly give consent didn’t sit right with him. His suspicions that this was the case solidified when he didn’t see her that entire day, and when he finally was able to speak with her she seemed embarrassed, and seemingly wanted to pretend that what had happened didn’t. So Arthur attempted normality, firmly blocking that moment out of his consciousness whenever they were together, but plagued by the encounter at night when alone.

Things had been fine for a while, until during one battle he took a rather nasty chest wound from an attack meant for her. He was fine after some medical attention and was sent to his room to rest, and he was surprised when Selena had barged into his quarters unannounced, panic-stricken with worry in her eyes. She had chastised him severely for not being more careful, only placated when he gave his heartfelt apologies. What came next happened so fast Arthur still wasn’t quite sure how it ended up that way, because he found himself sitting on the edge of his bed with his pants down, Selena on her knees and pleasuring him with her mouth.

Once he had been finished, Selena swallowing him down, she stood up and reminded him to be careful from then on. She seemed to have wanted to say more, but instead turned heel and promptly left, leaving him stunned and even more confused than before, because there was no doubt that this time she was fully conscious of her actions.

From then on it became almost normal, Selena coming to his room every so often at night looking like she wanted to say something, only to have her way with him, sometimes leaving right away and other times falling asleep with him, but never there in the morning. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement, which was that they did not speak about what they were doing, ever. Instead they talked about everything else if there was the chance, most notably bits of their pasts and other things that might not be mentioned without the afterglow of an orgasm. 

Arthur was... okay, with the arrangement. Admittedly he was unsure of the situation at first, but as he learned more about her and her past, he just wanted to make her happy, and if it was achieved by providing her with this comfort, then so be it. He might not be able to have Selena the way he wanted, but he would take what he could get. Which is what he was doing currently.

Selena was sitting on top and rubbing her slit against him, her juices coating his member. Her face was flushed, and she was panting slightly as she continued moving against him, her eyes glazed over with lust.

Lifting herself off of him, she reached down and stroked him a few times, drawing a groan from him as his hands fisted in the sheets of his bed, a sinful smile making its way onto her face. Leaning over to kiss him briefly, Selena moved back, lining him up with her entrance, taking amusement in his pleading, desperate expression before sinking down on him slowly, Arthur moaning at the feel and erotic display of his length disappearing into her.

Selena sat still for a moment, before grinding down and clenching around him, taking a bit of her own pleasure first, before she lifted herself up and dropped back down, beginning to move in earnest.

Arthur panted and moaned as she rode him, her breasts bouncing to the rhythm she set, herself gasping and moaning as his cock hit the deepest parts of her. 

As Selena’s movements became more frenzied, Arthur’s hands trailed up to grip her hips, thrusting up to meet her as she came down, causing Selena to throw her head back and cry out, moving together as they both drew closer to climax.

Arthur came first, grunting as he did, the sudden slickness helping Selena’s movements as she bounced a few more times and reached completion, calling out his name and grinding down on him as she did so.

Rather than get off right away, Selena laid her body down on him, resting her head against his chest as both of them recovered their breaths.

“Arthur...” Selena said, sitting back up and looking down at him once she had control over her breathing, her expression suddenly nervous as she looked for words. “I... um... I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Oh...okay.” Arthur replied, disappointed that she wasn’t staying this time. She still looked as though she wanted to say something, but instead chose to get off of him, collecting her clothes from the floor as she slowly dressed.

It wasn’t the first time that it seemed that Selena had wanted to say something more, but after months of interacting with her he knew better than to pry, and the one time he took a chance and tried asking about it she shut down, shaking and teary-eyed, unable to get any words out. That he had upset her, even unintentionally broke his heart, so from then on he ignored it figuring she would tell him whatever it was when she was ready.

Arthur sat up against the headboard of the bed and watched as she slipped on the last of her clothes, her back facing him and standing just at the edge of the bed, close enough for him to touch, and yet finding himself unable to reach across the chasm that seemed to separate them.

Selena finished adjusting her shirt and turned around to face him, surprising Arthur since she usually just left at this point. Selena looked down at him, again looking as though she wanted to say something, but instead sat on the edge of the bed and picked up his hand, bringing the back of it to rest against her cheek, and closed her eyes.

For the few seconds that followed, Arthur was shocked enough by the rare act of post-coital attention that he thought for a moment she might finally say what was on her mind, but instead, she sighed and dropped his hand and stood up. As she opened her eyes to look at him, Arthur thought he caught a look of immense sadness there. He wanted to ask what was wrong, wanted to comfort her, but the look was gone so fast he wasn’t sure he hadn’t imagined it, and she had already turned, walking away, posture straight and tall and not looking back once as she slipped out the door and closed it silently behind her.

Staring at the door for a few seconds after she left, Arthur sighed and turned to cleaning himself up, destroying the physical evidence that she had been there at all. He supposed it was for the best, since tomorrow morning she would act as though nothing had happened, pretending that everything was normal and fine.

He had thought many times about saying something, to address what they were doing and possibly put a stop to it, but as much as he tried to live according to the values his parents had taught him, he was still a man, and as a man, he had his fears. He had his fears, and his greatest fear regarding Selena was that if he said anything, she would stop associating with him at all. He had come to cherish his time with her, and even if she was just using him for her own pleasure, even if that meant never having more than these nights with her, he felt it was better to have this than nothing at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter actually came out way more sad than I had in mind originally, but I think it works. Poor Arthur, he just wants to properly express his love to Selena, but he doesn’t want to lose her friendship by saying anything. He doesn’t want to be alone again.
> 
> And poor Selena too. I’ll go into her thoughts next chapter, but she’s still so scared of being emotionally vulnerable with Arthur, to the point that when he asks her what’s wrong when she looks like she wants to tell him something, she has an anxiety attack.
> 
> If you’re still reading this despite the sad turn this story has taken, I thank you. Unfortunately it will be a bit sad for a while, but I’ll try to add happy moments. And please remember if you decide to stick around and read the future chapters, that this WILL end happily. Not bittersweet, but truly happy, I promise. Lemme know what you think as well if you’re willing, I’m curious to see what you think of this so far.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the promised chapter where we examine Selena’s thoughts more carefully. 
> 
> WARNING: This mentions the sexual trauma again, and kinda goes in-depth about Selena’s feelings about that whole situation, so this chapter may be more triggering than chapter 12, just warning you. I also want to be clear that Selena was never raped, but she was tricked into thinking that it was an actual romance, but later it comes to light that the guy was just using her. Also I don’t mention it in the story, but Selena is like 15/16 when this happens, and the dude is a year or so older, like 17/18

* * *

Selena closed the door behind her gently as she entered her room. She sighed, and stood there for a moment, mind blank as she looked over her space.

Seconds ticked past as she stood there, and then all at once everything she had been holding back rushed to the forefront of her mind, and her hand flew up to cover her mouth as her body shook with sobs. Rushing over to her bed, Selena picked up a pillow and buried her face in it, muffling her wails of anguish.

Selena crumpled to the floor, face still buried in the pillow as she let out all her frustrations and sorrows.

She was tired of her inability to just say what she wanted to say, too afraid of intentionally making herself emotionally vulnerable. She didn’t want to open herself up again to the possibility of that kind of heartbreak.

She was afraid of having to open up about that specific part of her past, of opening up old wounds that never quite healed in the first place, afraid of the possible rejection that would infect and cause those wounds to fester once revealed. 

She grieved for the girl whose heart had been offered out, trusting and innocent, only to have it stamped on and crushed, and despite the time that was supposed to heal it, was never quite whole again afterward. 

She was angry at that _asshole_ who made her feel like a dirty secret, “confidential” meetings at night and quick encounters during the day that left her hurt at his reluctance to officially call her his lover.

She was angry that what was supposed to be a secret was bragged about to the other guard recruits, leading to lewd comments and wandering hands that left her embarrassed and confused, wondering what she had done to gain such attention.

She hated that he made her feel flawed in some way now, ruined, and she hated the feelings of embarrassment that came with it.

She hated the shame that came once it was revealed that he was doing almost the same thing with Cynthia, and she hated that at that time she blamed and demonized Cynthia in her mind, straining and breaking their once close friendship.

She hated the influence the bastard still held over her, seeming to stain her soul despite the fact that he had been dead for years before she left her original timeline. 

She hated that despite leaving that behind, despite traveling to a different timeline, and then to a different world, that his influence still followed her, permeating her very being until it seemed to drip and leak from her.

She was angry that this influence extended past romantic love, digging its claws into every relationship she made, whispering warnings of two-faced and exploitative people, changing her into a cold, defensive person to ensure that no one would get too close. She was angry that she missed out on learning the important first steps of love the first time, skipping all of that only to be taught things that should only come after establishing a trusting and loving relationship.

But most of all, Selena was devastated that all of these things were affecting her ability to be honest with Arthur.

She wanted more than just friendship, and she wanted more than the mess she had started and continued to perpetuate. But every time she tried to say what she wanted, those tendrils of fear and doubt invaded her mind, and she froze up. 

She would revert to what she knew, and then the cycle continued. And it was slowly killing her, because she knew, she _knew_ that it was affecting Arthur too. 

She could see that he wanted out of this mess, and she could see that she was stepping past the limits of his understanding and patience. She could feel the distance between them growing ever wider, the exact opposite of what she wanted. She knew that at this point he was only sticking around because she promised to help with his luck, and because of that she knew that she couldn’t tell him that in the end, she wouldn’t be able to, because she had discovered that he was in fact cursed, the spell so closely intertwined with his soul that she almost didn’t catch it, and there was no way she would be able to remove it. She knew if she told him this, he would stop spending time with her, end whatever it was that they kept doing, and as much as the situation was one she didn’t want, she had a greater, selfish desire to keep him close.

Selena’s sobs slowly subsided, taking comfort in the numbness that came after such an outpouring of emotion. Hugging the pillow to her chest, Selena leaned her head back on the bed, remembering how this whole mess started. 

She should have just confessed that first time, but of course, she froze up and acted impulsively. Then she had the chance to just let it go, Arthur seemingly willing to play along with her act. Things were almost fine, but then she had to get careless in battle and cause him to suffer from a devastating attack meant for her.

She had been so scared for him that time, so afraid that her carelessness had cost him his life. After that battle she frantically went looking for him in the infirmary, and she nearly collapsed with relief when she learned that he was okay, and was just sent back to his room to relax for the rest of the day.

She remembered rushing to his quarters, very nearly knocking the door off its hinges in her need to see for herself that he was okay. But he was just as the nurse had said, he was fine. Selena was filled with an overflow of emotions at the proof that he was in fact okay, and she then lectured him on being more careful, her words doubling as a warning to herself to not put him at risk like that again.

At that moment she almost confessed her feelings to him. She almost said that she was worried because she was afraid she had lost him. She almost admitted that she had panicked the morning after their night together, almost telling him that she left because she was really just mad at herself that she skipped steps and behaved out of order. She almost told him about her past, the reason why she acted that way in the first place. 

But _almost_ telling him everything wasn’t the same as _actually_ telling him everything, and her voice had frozen in her throat, as though that sticky, nasty influence had grown hands and was physically trapping her words. Instead, she was hit by the voice of her demon, hearing him whisper in her ear, _“he won’t accept you for it”_. She heard the disembodied voice repeating the last words he had said to her, echoing in her head, “ _you’re not good for anything other than physical pleasure”_.

Selena had frozen up, familiar feelings of doubt and panic and pain spreading through her body. Arthur had called her back to that present moment, and as though a marionette she had moved toward him, as though her demon was pulling her strings in her sudden and familiar fear and resignation to the belief of those words, clouding her judgment.

Selena remembered how she pushed her hand against Arthur’s chest, backing him up to his bed. She remembered how she had loosened the strings to the pants that he wore outside of battle, letting them drop to the floor as she pushed him down to sit on the edge of the bed. Selena remembered how she had dropped to her knees, taking him in her hands and stroking him until she was able to take him into her mouth, licking and sucking until he was finished. Selena remembered his look of confusion as she stood up, swallowing the rest of him down, again wanting to tell him everything, the words instead coming out as a reminder to stay safe. She remembered the wave of embarrassment, turning around so Arthur wouldn't see it, and slipping out the door. Selena recalled how she spent the rest of that night under the covers of her bed, trying desperately not to break down, pushing the old feelings and pain away.

From then on it continued, as though a part from a stage production, rehearsing the same scene over and over. Selena would gather the courage to tell Arthur everything and go to face him in the privacy of his room, only to lose nerve at the last moment and revert to what she knew how to do, acting as a defense mechanism. 

What made Selena feel even worse was the fact that she did enjoy their moments together. She felt worse because despite the torture of failing each and every time she tried to confess her past and feelings, every time she joined with Arthur, every moan and curse and climax she drew from him made her happy, in a way. It made her happy because _she_ was able to do that, to make him feel good, even if it was just in that moment, and she would be lying if she said she didn’t also get pleasure from their couplings. Selena would be lying if she said she didn’t imagine in those moments that what they were doing was coming from a place of mutual love. Selena wanted Arthur to feel the same desire for her that she felt for him, even if it was a fake and temporary feeling, even if it never became more real than that.

Feeling tears running down her face again, Selena crawled under the covers of her bed, trying to block out the demon and the feelings that came along as well as she struggled with it for the rest of that long, miserable night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah... this has taken a pretty sad turn... but again I promise it ends well. There’s just a lot of misery along the way.
> 
> The next chapter will contain the last sex scene I have planned for the story.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, so this is the last chapter of the first arc, and also I think the longest chapter to date.
> 
> Also despite my thinking that Elise and Odin’s supports are cute, for some reason her age didn’t occur to me, and I looked it up as I was writing this... and for this story’s purpose and anything else I may write with Odin/Elise, Elise is much older than 10-13. She’s at least 20, okay? Actually everyone, from Fates and Awakening is older than what their wiki may say. They’re all at least 20.
> 
> There’s one last sex scene in this chapter, and during it, Selena’s name changes from Selena to Severa, and then back again once the act is over, so don’t be confused, that’s done on purpose.

* * *

The war was over, but at a great cost to both sides. King Garon’s body and soul were revealed to have been taken over by a strange and sinister entity once seated upon the Hoshidan throne, and was struck down and put to rest by the Nohrian royals and the rest of their little army. Hoshido had suffered the loss of both of their princes, as well as the devastation to the land and people caused by the other forces of Garon’s army.

Though she mourned for both Nohr and Hoshido, Selena knew as well as anyone that in war, sacrifices must be made, and lives will be lost. It didn’t lessen the sting, but all the same, it was a truth that had to be acknowledged.

Prince Xander was crowned the new King of Nohr, and a peace treaty was forged with the soon-to-be Queen Hinoka, bringing with it a new era of peace across the kingdoms, though the hard work to truly get there had just begun.

There was a celebration across Nohr to usher in King Xander’s reign, filled with food and music and merry-making, though for Selena and her two closest companions, they were unable to fully enjoy it.

Though retainers for the royals, Laslow, Odin, and Selena had been granted the day off, and they were currently locked away in Laslow’s room at the castle, discussing their next course of action.

“So have you two decided what you want to do now?” Odin asked the others.

“I’ll be going back to Ylisse, from the world we left and not our original timeline,” came Laslow’s reply, “There’s nothing left for me here, and after all of that I’d rather at least have some version of my parents than none at all.”

The ‘all of that’ that Laslow was referring to was the death of his wife, Princess Azura. 

They had only just been married, and while Laslow understood why she did what she did, he was devastated all the same. 

After they had killed the monster that disguised itself as the former king, Prince Takumi of Hoshido came in, possessed by a similar force to that of the one that had taken over Garon. 

Azura had turned to Laslow, kissing him and calling him by his true name, saying that she was sorry and that she loved him more than he could know. Laslow had been confused, but Azura had turned away from him and sang her song to weaken the faux-Takumi.

Though everyone else was preoccupied with the battle, Laslow had watched in horror as his beloved dissolved into bubbles, dispersing and disappearing into nothingness. He had been in such a state of shock that he was basically useless the entire time, only Odin and Selena noticing his ineffectiveness and having to defend not only themselves but him as well.

They had not seen what had happened to Azura, so afterward they had confronted the shell-shocked Laslow, instantly feeling horrible when they learned the truth behind his inaction.

In the present moment, Odin and Selena simply exchanged glances, their sadness for their friend mirrored in each other’s expression. 

“Makes sense,” Odin replied. “Elise and I have talked, and she said she wishes to follow me, and so we’ll be joining you for the journey back, my friend.”

Laslow looked slightly better at hearing that piece of news, clearly happy he would have someone who knew first hand what had happened going back with him. 

Odin then turned to Selena. “And what about you?”

Selena scoffed, “I’ll be returning with you guys of course.” She had thought about returning to their previous timeline as Anankos had said she would be able to if she so chose, but after some consideration, she decided that she would rather return to her childhood friends and comrades.

“Selena...what about Arthur?” Laslow asked quietly, his sad gaze turning to her.

“What _about_ Arthur?” Selena snapped back, suddenly defensive.

She was aware that both Laslow and Odin knew she still hadn’t said anything about her feelings, but they had stayed silent on the issue. Bringing it up now... Selena was not in the mood to talk about it.

“You still haven’t talked to him,” Laslow continued, “and wouldn’t you rather at least say something than wonder what could have been?”

At this Selena broke her eye contact with him, glaring at the wall. “There’s nothing _to_ wonder about. He’s chosen someone else.”

Laslow and Odin stared at her, eyebrows raised, but Selena chose to ignore them and not elaborate. It was still too fresh in her mind.

Yesterday she had been looking for Arthur, because Elise had been searching for him and Selena was asked to help track him down. She had gone through the rooms he would most likely be in, her search ending in the library and the studies contained in it. As she had opened the door to one of the studies, her blood ran cold and she froze where she stood. Because sure enough, there was Arthur, but he was not alone. In his arms was Charlotte, her hands on his chest and a devious smile crossing her face when she made eye contact with Selena. Selena had stuttered an apology and backed out of the room, running away and ignoring Arthur as he called after her. She hadn’t seen him since.

Selena kept telling herself she had no right to feel hurt, betrayed, because she had no claim over Arthur. They were only friends, not lovers, no matter how many times they ended up in bed together. Selena also told herself, no matter how her heart ached at the thought, that it was only fair that Arthur would want an _actual_ lover, someone who would be there in the morning when he woke up.

“Selena?” came Odin’s voice, soft and cautious, “Selena, what happened?”

“It’s... It’s nothing. Please, I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

Odin and Laslow this time shared a confused look, but neither said anything else. After a moment of silence, Odin spoke again. “...Okay, we won’t press you for information.”

Selena simply nodded, not trusting herself to say anything else.

Odin then addressed both of them. “When would you two like to leave? Elise said she is ready as early as tonight.”

“That works for me,” Laslow responded quickly, “I can’t stand being in this world any longer... I want to go home.”

“I’m fine with that too.” Selena said, also wanting to leave as soon as possible.

Odin nodded, “Alright. We’ll leave after the festivities, at dawn tomorrow morning.”

* * *

Selena was sitting on her bed, unable to get any sleep as she waited for the time to meet at the agreed-upon place, where she, Laslow, Odin, and Elise would return to Ylisse, never to see this world again.

It was already quite late in the night, and there were only a few hours remaining before it was time to leave, but the closer it got to the time of departure, the more Selena’s heart broke.

She would be leaving without saying goodbye to Arthur, the only one, besides Lady Camilla, she cared enough about to even consider bidding farewell to. But Camilla was going to see them off, as the three friends had agreed to let Elise let her sister know so there wouldn’t be nation-wide panic at the youngest princess vanishing without a trace, so Selena would see her lady just before leaving.

_“Will he wonder about my disappearance?”_ Selena thought, playing with her hair.

_“I suppose he might, we are- were?... friends, after all.”_

Whether or not he still considered them friends, the more she thought about it the more she felt that he would in fact notice her absence, and knowing his fundamental goodness she had a feeling that he would attempt to search for Elise, and by extension herself.

Making her decision before she could have a change of heart, Selena got up, and after checking one final time to make sure she had packed everything, left her room.

_“Maybe this is stupid after all, I shouldn’t do this. What if he’s with Charlotte right now?... Well I’m just saying good-bye, it should be okay... And if she is there I just won’t go inside the room, and I’ll make it quick... I just want to see him one last time.”_

Her resolve strengthened by her reasoning, Selena hurried down the castle halls, making her way to Arthur’s quarters.

Coming to a halt in front of his door, Selena knocked.

_“Shit, what if he’s asleep? It’s really late, he’s probably asleep right now-”_

Selena’s train of thought was halted when the door swung open to reveal a bleary-eyed Arthur, who to her relief was alone.

“Selena?”

“A-Arthur... um, I just wanted to say, uh...” she trailed off, realizing there was no good way to say good-bye without raising his suspicions.

“... Nevermind. I’m sorry I woke you up, it’s nothing.”

Turning away, Selena let out a quiet sigh, though not as quiet as she had thought when Arthur called out to her.

“Selena? Are you okay?”

Stopping in her tracks, Selena felt her heart breaking at the question. No, she was not okay, she was leaving this world, never to return, never to see him again, but she couldn’t tell him that even if she wanted to. Tears welled up in Selena’s eyes, and she spun around, walking up to him and wrapping her arms around Arthur in a tight hug, his arms coming around her reflexively.

“...Selena?... Here, come inside.”

Selena said nothing as Arthur gently pulled away, an arm around her shoulders as he led her into the room, the door closing behind them.

Arthur led her to the bed to sit, since there was nowhere else in the room to do so, and sat down next to her, as usual waiting for her to start talking.

At this moment there was no point in explaining herself, the opportunities for that lost to time, so Selena just leaned against Arthur, Charlotte be damned, her head resting on his shoulder as her arms came to wrap around his bicep, holding him close to her as she tried to sear the moment into her memory.

They sat there for a while, Arthur’s body slowly releasing the tension from his initial surprise at her action. They said nothing until Selena turned her head up to Arthur, who looked down at her movement.

The words she had for him died on her lips as their eyes met, Selena again struck with the fact that this would be the last time she saw those eyes, that face, and that fact alone is what kept her silent, eyes glued to him, etching his features into her mind.

Selena was startled when she felt Arthur’s hand come up to cup her face, but she quickly recovered as she leaned into his touch. Arthur’s eyes seemed to be begging permission for something, and she tilted her head up more to him, eyes drifting shut as Arthur closed the gap between them.

Selena poured everything she had into the kiss, trying desperately in this last moment together to convey everything she had ever wanted to say to him, speaking in action what she couldn’t in words.

Her arms went to circle around Arthur’s neck as she moved to straddle his lap at his tugging, an echo of that night that had started everything. As she kissed him, Selena let out every pent up emotion she had into the kiss, all her frustrations and sorrows, her apologies and desires, everything that she had wanted to say, but was too afraid to.

Feeling him harden beneath her, Selena broke the kiss and slid off his lap, stripping herself of her clothes, putting on a show of sorts for the man in front of her. Once naked, she again straddled Arthur’s lap, kissing him hard as she helped rid him of his shirt.

Arthur then laid her down onto the bed, kicking his pants off as he did so, responding to her eagerness. Selena brought him down for another urgent kiss, mellowing slightly as he tried to slow their movements down. She melted into Arthur’s ministrations as he found the sensitive spots on her neck, gently sucking and biting, tracking marks down as she mewled and squirmed in ecstasy.

Selena whimpered when he removed his attention from her neck, skipping her breasts entirely and moving further down instead. She yelped when she felt Arthur’s tongue against her nub, long strokes interspersed with short flicks that left her gasping for breath.

Though appreciative of the attention, Selena knew they were pressed for time and pulled Arthur up for another kiss, tongues dancing as she reached down to take his length in her hand.

“Selena...” Arthur groaned, thrusting into her grip.

Selena’s hand let go, coming up to put a finger against his mouth. Arthur locked eyes with her, his expression one of confusion.

“Shhh....” Selena whispered, hand moving to cup his face, “Call me Severa.”

“Severa?...”

“That’s what my name actually is... not Selena... My name is Severa.”

“Severa...” Arthur said, voice low and husky, “Severa... I like it.”

Severa smiled gently, tilting her head up into the kiss that Arthur came down for, committing the sound of her name coming from his mouth to her memory.

Severa’s hand went back to Arthur’s cock, lining him up with her entrance. As he sunk into her, she sighed as her eyes closed, savoring the feeling of him entering her. 

She pressed up into him, conveying the need for movement, and Arthur began a slow, gentle rhythm. He angled himself so he hit just the right spot, his hard, even thrusts causing Severa to see stars.

Severa encouraged the pace along until the bed began to creak, squeaking in response to the intensity of their movements, the headboard beginning to bang against the wall.

As Arthur’s pace began to grow uneven, Severa wrapped her legs around his waist, egging him on further as she too felt her own orgasm approaching, Arthur’s name coming out as a breathy moan when his hand came down between them, finding her clit and edging her closer and closer to the release she was craving.

Arthur’s body began tensing up as he continued pounding into her, and he snapped his hips forward one last time, bottoming out as he flooded into her, groaning out her name as he came.

Hearing her name again in his low, strangled tone was surprisingly all she needed, and Severa’s legs locked him in as she came too, harder than she ever had before, nails digging into his back and crying out his name as well.

They laid there panting, holding onto each other as their racing heartbeats and ragged breaths slowly returned to normal. 

Arthur rolled off her when her legs released him, watching her as she turned to face him, putting an arm around her waist as she leaned on his chest, arms crossed under her chin.

Severa’s gaze met his, and tears welled up in her eyes. “Arthur... I want you to know... I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry... for everything.”

Arthur frowned, “Severa?”

Shaking her head, she ran a hand through his hair and pushed herself up to meet him for one last kiss. 

With a hand on his cheek, Severa withdrew, whispering a sleep spell against his lips as she did so. The magic quickly took over, and she was only able to maintain eye contact for a second before Arthur drifted into a sound, dreamless sleep.

Watching him for just a moment more, she slipped out from under his arm, getting up from the bed and putting her discarded clothes back on. Looking out the window, Severa saw with a pang that the sky was slowly brightening, and that it was almost time to leave.

She made her way to the door, looking back once more at Arthur’s sleeping form as she stepped out into the hall, and the tears that were held back finally fell as Selena closed the door behind her.

Knowing she would falter otherwise, Selena took off in a sprint towards her room, tears streaking down her face. Collecting her things, she steeled herself and wiped her face, quickly making her way to the courtyard they were departing from. She reached the entrance of the courtyard just as Odin, Elise, and Camilla did, and as they entered they saw Laslow was already there, no doubt having waited for some time in his eagerness to return home.

“Ready to go?” Odin asked them, already holding Elise’s hand.

“I’ve been ready.” came Laslow’s reply, picking up his bag. 

Selena nodded as well, ignoring Odin’s worried stare. 

“You all be careful when you get back now,” Camilla said, “And Odin.. or should I say Owain, you take care of my little sister.”

Elise dropped Odin’s hand, and fell into Camilla’s waiting embrace, holding on to each other tightly. 

“Tell Xander, Leo, and Corrin I said bye, okay Camilla?” Elise said, tears gathering in her eyes as she broke the hug. “And I love you all.”

“Of course my darling,” Camilla replied, blinking back tears of her own as she cupped Elise’s face, “Always, always remember that we all love you more than you could ever know, and we will miss you so, so much.”

They hugged one last time, Elise eventually breaking the embrace and returning to Odin’s side, one of his arms wrapping around her waist.

Camilla then turned to Selena and pulled her into a hug. “And you, Selena, my treasured friend... take care my dear.”

Selena simply nodded, too choked up with emotion to say anything, and hugged Camilla back, eventually mumbling her thanks when she was able. When Camilla let go, Selena moved next to Laslow, who was already holding out the crystal that would return them home.

Selena touched the stone, Elise and Odin doing the same, and just as the sun began to break over the horizon, there was a bright flash of light, and the four of them were gone.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s the end of part one. As a reminder, part two is going to be sad. It’s supposed to be the “character development arc” so there will probably be some happy moments, but I’m not 100% sure yet. What I am sure of is that Arthur and Severa will suffer some before they reunite, but as another reminder, all will end well and truly happy. 
> 
> I want to let you know that there will probably a few days of no updates, the POV in the second part will jump between Arthur and Severa, so I'm trying to figure out a way where it'll make sense and stuff, which means rearranging the planning doc.
> 
> I also want to say, even though this is nowhere near complete, that I didn’t honestly think I would make it this far. I appreciate your support dear reader, and I hope you like this so far and want to see this through as much as I do. Thank you again!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And on to the second arc! This arc is supposed to focus on character growth, so there is supposed to be more Arthur-centric chapters. 
> 
> There will be mentions throughout the second arc of the different FE: Awakening pairs and these are the ones that I had in my playthrough of the game, so briefly they are as follows:
> 
> ChromxRobin  
> HenryxCordelia  
> VirionxLissa  
> Lon’quxOlivia  
> FrederickxSumia  
> GaiusxMaribelle  
> RickenxMiriel  
> StahlxPanne  
> KellamxCherche  
> DonnelxTharja  
> VaikexSully  
> GregorxNowi
> 
> As a note, I totally disregarded pretty much everyone’s epilogues in awakening. All of the second-gen, except Noire, live in the castle with their parents, who work there as a guard/soldier, mage, etc. Donnel and Tharja are living in Donnel’s village, and Noire decided to stay with them. The only other couple who are not living at the castle are Gaius and Maribelle, however Brady lives in the castle for a reason that will be explained later.
> 
> Also this chapter will heavily feature Inigo. It’s not really Severa-centric but it has important information all the same, so just a heads up I guess.

* * *

In the early dawn of another world, where the kingdoms of Nohr and Hoshido are only myths, stories to tell to children before they go to sleep, there was a flash of light, manifesting four people when the light blinked out of existence.

The three who were returning looked around at their surroundings, confused at their whereabouts.

“Um... guys... where are we?”

“Uhh... good question Inigo.”

The three were immediately on guard and drew their weapons, as the place they had returned to was not where they had left from, as Anankos had said they would. Their attention was diverted, however, when Elise gasped.

“Whoa! Od-Owain, your hair, it’s blue!”

Owain ran a hand through his hair, looking surprised. Sure enough, his hair was a light blue, and as Elise turned to look at the other two for an explanation, her eyes grew round.

“Se-Selena, Laslow, your hair colors changed too!”

Already having started searching through her bags for a mirror when she saw Owain’s hair had reverted to its natural color, as she looked at herself once the mirror was found, Severa was struck by the feeling that they had done it, and it was finally over.

Unable to believe her reflection, Severa pulled one of her pigtails around, not caring when Inigo grabbed the mirror from her hands. She looked down and ran her hair through her fingers, once again the snow-white she loved so dearly. 

Inigo was also looking quite pleased with his reflection, passing the mirror to Owain once he had his fill. Turning to Elise, Inigo explained the change.

“These are our natural hair colors, Elise. They were changed when we were transported to your realm as a precaution... To be honest, I sometimes thought I would never see it this way again... and here I go by Inigo, and she is called Severa.”

Elise simply nodded, again distracted by the blue of her lover’s hair.

Owain handed the mirror back to Severa, a huge grin plastered across his face. “We did it guys,” he said, “We’re home.”

“Well perhaps not quite,” Inigo said, again taking in the surroundings and putting his defenses up, “We didn’t return to the Mila tree as we were told we would. We need to figure out where we are.”

“Y’know,” Owain said, looking around again, “it almost looks like we’re at the-”

Another bright flash of light cut Owain off, startling the four. Once the light cleared, the four of them stood in shock, staring with rounded eyes at the figure who had appeared. Inigo stepped forward, his sword clattering to the ground.

“Azura?”

Sure enough, it was in fact Princess Azura. Inigo approached, stopping in front of her. He put his hand up as though to cup her face, but faltered, as if he were afraid that she was an apparition and would disappear the moment he tried to make contact.

“Azura...is it really you?” Inigo whispered.

Azura smiled at Inigo, placing a hand on his chest, as though to assure him that she was there, and she was real. “It’s me, my love. I’m here.”

“I don’t understand,” Inigo stuttered, his hand finally coming in contact with her face, “How are- how are you here? I saw you disappear.”

“In truth, that should have been the end of me,” Azura started, leaning into Inigo’s touch, “ But when you all left Nohr, my spirit was taken and transported to an in-between realm of sorts, and there was a dragon god... Naga? She said you are one of 12 she owes a great deal to, and felt this was a blessing you deserved.”

Inigo smiled, looking up at the sky. “It would seem I have a lot of worshipping to do then, as thanks to her.”

“She also told me that this wouldn’t have been possible without the existence of this little one,” Azura said, smiling as a hand went to her abdomen.

Inigo’s eyes widened. “Azura... are you... are you saying what I think you’re saying?...”

Azura smiled brighter and nodded. “It would seem I was with child when I last sang my song, which is why I was able to come here at all. This child tied me to your world, and because of that Naga was able to resurrect and bring me here.”

Inigo was frozen in place, seemingly processing what he had been told, but then suddenly was a flurry of movement, whooping with laughter as he turned back to the others. “Did you guys hear that? I’m going to be a father!”

Inigo then turned back to Azura and kissed her, as though a man in a desert finally finding water.

When they broke the kiss, Severa, Owain, and Elise came up to them, congratulating the couple and welcoming Azura back. They were so engrossed in their mini celebration that they failed to notice the approach of another.

“Hello? Is that?... Severa? Owain? Inigo? Where have you three been, you’ve been missing for nearly two years!”

The small party turned to the newcomer, a young woman with dark blue hair and a look of bewilderment on her face.

“Lucina!” 

The three returning heroes raced over to their friend, engulfing her in a hug.

“Lucina, we have a tale most interesting to tell you. It rivals the great epic of our pasts, I assure you, you will be spell-bound!” Owain exclaimed, hugging Lucina again.

“Okay, okay Owain!” Lucina said, laughing at her cousin’s usual theatrics. Her attention then centered on the other two with them. “And who are they?”

“Ah, they would be mine and Inigo’s wives.”

“Wives?”

“Gather the others, as I said, we have quite the story to tell.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short, it was supposed to be combined with the next one, but it’s a POV change and I couldn’t figure out a way to do it nicely without being suuuuper jarring. The next chapter will be posted probably later today. Probably a few hours. Maybe less. Idk.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies if this chapter feels a little shorter than usual, again it was supposed to be part of the last one, but I couldn’t think of a good way to jump back to Nohr.

* * *

When Arthur woke up, he was unsurprised that he was alone as usual, despite thinking that it was odd Selena had used a spell on him to put him to sleep. He didn’t think too much of it though and went to go find Elise, expecting her to be in the dining hall and preparing himself for the morning-after encounter that he still wasn’t quite used to but was ultimately inevitable.

_ “Didn’t she say her name is actually Severa?” _

Suddenly a little less anxious about seeing her, if only because he wondered if her behavior would be any different from the last time, Arthur quickened his pace, only to stop at the doors to the private dining hall for the royals. 

“Good morning all, why are we waiting outside?”

The group of retainers turned at his greeting, and Arthur realized that not only was Severa not there, but Odin and Laslow were not as well.

“Arthur, it’s about time you showed up,” came Effie’s reply, sounding and looking tense and irritated. “Lady Camilla is talking with her siblings. Something is not right, Elise wasn’t in her room this morning.”

“She wasn’t?”

Suddenly on alert, Arthur was about to ask Effie for more information, when the doors to the dining hall were opened, and Camilla stepped out. 

“You may come in now... I have something to share with you all.”

The retainers quietly filed in, and if they weren’t on high alert before they definitely were now.

King Xander was sitting at the head of the table, clutching his Queen’s hand tightly. Mozu was stroking her husband’s arm in a comforting manner but was clearly just as upset as Xander, who while usually stern, was looking particularly angry at whatever news had been shared.

Lord Leo looked shell-shocked, staring wide-eyed and unblinking at his plate, the only indication of his inner turmoil was his clenched fist around his silverware.

Lady Corrin was sobbing inconsolably, hanging onto Felicia as though she were a lifeline, Felicia only being able to whisper comforting words and rubbing soothing circles on Lady Corrin’s back.

It was clear that whatever Lady Camilla had shared with her family had been extremely upsetting, and Camilla herself looked as though she would break down in tears at any moment.

The retainers were on edge, bracing themselves for whatever the bad news was. Effie in particular was beginning to look more and more panicked as the silence wore on, assuming that whatever it was that upset them had to do with Elise.

“As you can probably tell, something has happened that has torn our hearts apart,” Camilla started, putting on a brave face. 

“As of this morning, Elise and the three retainers, Selena, Laslow, and Odin, have disappeared from Nohr.” 

At hearing the news for a second time, the other royals all had varying reactions. Xander grabbed the hand Mozu had been soothing him with, and glared down at his plate, while Mozu rested her head on Xander’s shoulder. Leo threw the fork he was holding across the room, clattering as it hit the ground, and Corrin started crying even harder, her sobs muffled in Felicia’s apron.

Camilla continued. “There will be some shuffling of your assignments, we will let you know what they are in two day-”

“Wait!” cried Effie, “What do you mean they disappeared?! We need to look for them, they can’t have gotten far-”

Camilla cut Effie off quickly. “We will not be looking for them. Where they have gone I cannot say, however I know they are-”

“How can we not look for them?! They could be in danger, how can you be so calm about this?! Do you not care?!” 

At this point Effie was shaking, red-faced and angry, her hands clenched in fists at her sides, however the rage that came over Camilla’s face made Effie’s pale in comparison.

“SILENCE! How dare you accuse me of not caring! This is my SISTER we are talking about, I love her so much more than you could possibly understand. I took care of Elise as though she were my daughter when her own mother was too busy using my sweet girl for her own gains! I would do ANYTHING for her, and you DARE accuse me of not caring?!”

Effie was still upset but had clearly realized her error. “I-I’m sorry your highness, I spoke out of turn...”

Camilla’s rage suddenly softened, and she came up to Effie, taking her face in her hands.

“I understand you are upset, I know you were very close with Elise. She had said before she left that she regretted not being able to say goodbye. I promise you though, where Elise went she is safe will be well taken care of, for the rest of her life. I saw her leave myself, and where she went we cannot follow, but I would have never let her leave if I thought for a moment she would be in danger.”

“I-I understand, milady...” came Effie’s quiet reply. Although he couldn’t see her face, Arthur could tell from the sudden sniffling that Effie was trying to hold back tears, though failing entirely when Camilla began crying as well, pulling Effie into a hug. 

The rest of the retainers stood, frozen in place as they absorbed the information. Elise was gone. So were Selena, Laslow, and Odin. They were not going to look for them, not going to bring them back, and there would be a reshuffling of their assignments.

While he was able to accept the information for the most part, Arthur was hung up on one piece of it. Namely, that Odin, Laslow, and Selena had disappeared as well.

Selena...no, Severa, was gone, and if Camilla was to be believed, she had gone somewhere they would not be able to track her to. 

Arthur was confused. Why would she leave without at least saying goodbye? They were friends, weren’t they? Or did their relationship change so much that she didn’t even consider him like that anymore?

Then again, she  _ did _ visit him last night, and she  _ did _ tell him that she had been living under an alias. She had apologized, though at the time Arthur hadn’t been sure what exactly it was for. Was that her version of goodbye?

As he and the rest of the retainers watched on as Camilla and Effie let out their grief, Arthur felt a mix of hurt and sadness, washing over him so strongly he almost stopped breathing from the pain. 

Xander stood and excused himself, not in the mood to eat as he and Mozu went back to their quarters. Leo and Corrin stood as well, and each went in their separate ways, Leo stalking off and Corrin sprinting away.

Camilla and Effie had stopped crying for the moment, and Camilla dismissed them all for the day, pulling Effie along as they went in the direction of Elise’s room, a cloak of despair falling over their forms.

The rest of the group there exchanged glances, feeling helpless in their inability to do anything to ease their masters’ heartache. In the end, they all awkwardly turned away, heading in different directions to mull over the news.

Though Arthur was also upset about the loss of Elise, the fact that Severa was gone was what really killed him. He would never again hear her utter another word. Never again would he walk next to her, listening to her talk of whatever crossed her mind. He would never, never be able to see her rare, genuine smile ever again. She had left his life, left him. Arthur’s mind was numb from shock as he retreated to his room, and as he reached his door, he felt his already splintered heart shatter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ouch. Poor dude. Next up is a Severa-centric chapter.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to Severa’s perspective.
> 
> I wanna be clear that at this point all of the Awakening first-gen view the future children as their own, which is why they are so... attached? Like especially since most of them have had their version of the second-gen, they are now much more attached to the future children.
> 
> In my headcanon, Henry and Cordelia in particular are very protective of the future Severa, just because of the way I headcanon their particular personalities.

* * *

The reunion of the children displaced in time was sweet. There had been a lot of laughter and tears, as well as a fair amount of chastising for not giving any warning of their departure. After the three apologized to the group, Nah made a point of getting them all to agree to a pact that no matter what happened, they would all always check in with everyone else before going on any adventures. 

Elise and Azura had been welcomed warmly into the group, and they were touched that an established group of people could welcome them so fully and easily. When it was revealed that Azura was expecting a child, after the initial shock, the group had expressed their amusement that Inigo had been able to settle down, but they were all excited nonetheless at the news that one of their own would be having a child.

Once all the stories were told and the group bade farewell to Noire, who had been visiting for the week, Severa, Inigo, and Owain sought out their respective parents. There were more hugs and scoldings, but the parents had been happy their children had returned to them safe. Inigo and Owain’s parents had been surprised to find they now had daughters-in-law, but had welcomed them into their respective families with love once the initial shock wore off. 

Elise got along very well with Lissa, who was doting to the point that Owain jokingly complained that Lissa was his mother and not hers. Lissa pointed out that Elise was technically her daughter-in-law, and that she had every right to mother Elise, who had cried tears of joy at the sentiment, having not received any affection from her own mother. Elise also found Virion’s mannerisms and flowery language quite amusing, noting that she could see where her husband got his theatrics from. 

Lon’qu and Olivia had been surprised to find out that they would be grandparents in a few months, with Olivia teasing Inigo that he was making her feel so old, but they took the news quite well and insisted that they help with raising the baby alongside their own Inigo. Lon’qu had initially been somewhat cold, and despite Inigo’s insistence that his father was ‘just like that’ and that he was sure that Lon’qu didn’t dislike her, Azura had become increasingly upset at the seeming rejection. Azura ended up spending a lot of time with Olivia, and accidentally let slip her feelings of her father-in-law’s coldness. Olivia had also assured Azura that Lon’qu was just a naturally aloof person, however soon after Azura’s confession Lon’qu had sought her out and apologized, explaining his gynophobia and that it had nothing to do with her. Lon’qu admitted he was glad Inigo had been able to settle down with a respectable woman, and Azura felt much more comfortable around her husband’s family afterward.

Severa’s parents had been the most emotional in their reunion, giving her hugs and kisses along with scoldings of “don’t you ever go anywhere without telling us again” and “we were so worried”. Cordelia had been sobbing and Henry had threatened to put a spell on her that would track her location, which embarrassed Severa to no end, though secretly she was glad she had been missed so much (she was pretty sure her father made good on his threat though, for both her and their version of herself).

For Severa, things were good for the first week and a half. She was busy catching up on the past two years with her friends and suggesting things to Lucina that she found better in Nohr to implement at the castle. She was busy, and that left her tired at the end of the day, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. But eventually, there was nothing left to catch up on and all the new plans for the castle had been set, and then Severa was alone with her thoughts.

All the effort she had put in to keep Arthur out of mind was for naught, because the moment she no longer had any pressing matters to attend to, things came flooding back, often at little and unexpected moments.

When she heard a joke or something happened to annoy her, the first thing she would think to do was to track down Arthur to tell him before the realization that he wasn’t there hit her.

She had passed by while Gerome and Kjelle were sparring, and the glint of their practice axes in the sun reminded her of all the times Arthur had come to her assistance in battle, and her heart clenched painfully.

When she had been out at the market with Nah one day, she saw something she thought was interesting and turned to point it out to Arthur, only to be greeted by empty air.

Though she made no mention of it, she could tell that her friends could sense her poor mood and distracted thoughts, however they thankfully didn’t make any mention of it. She was pretty sure Owain and Inigo had told them not to worry, though after a while she knew those two had cracked and said she was suffering from a broken heart.

Mercifully, no one had outright mentioned it, but there was no mistaking the cautious glances and careful wording around her. The treatment was taken gratefully at first, but then it became too similar to the treatment after  _ the incident _ , and that didn’t sit right with Severa.

She didn’t want Arthur to be thought of in the minds of her friends the same way they remembered  _ the bastard _ , so one day she casually mentioned him while talking with Laurent and Kjelle.

They had both been surprised at first, it was evident on their faces, but they had recovered quickly, smiling with relief when they realized that she was okay with talking about her lost love.

From then on the others slowly relaxed, and soon they were doing more to try and help her feel better, in their own ways.

Morgan and Yarne started seeking her out to spend time with her, their combination of carefree and overly cautious attitudes bringing a smile to her face at their combined antics.

Gerome, though he would deny it, was gentle at heart, and would lay a comforting hand on her arm when her gaze drifted too far away, even going so far as to lend his shoulder to cry on, understanding that sometimes words were not enough to convey both heartbreak and reassurance.

Brady and Cynthia would team up and bring her tea and cookies once or twice a week, sitting with her and chatting about anything to distract her even for a little while.

Laurent noticed that she was worse off at nightfall, and would insist she accompany him on evening strolls through the castle, and Kjelle, Nah, and Lucina would take turns taking her to the market in an attempt to cheer her up.

She would spend the most time with Azura and Elise however, helping them become accustomed to life in Ylisse, and both she and Elise would lend a woman’s ear to Azura’s struggles with morning sickness and other things that changed with pregnancy.

It was... strange, however. Severa began feeling ill in the mornings, and her sense of smell seemed to have become stronger, often having her running for a bush or bucket and dry-heaving or outright losing her previous meal. Laurent had taken note of this when they had passed the kitchens together one evening, and had said that it was probably due to her close affiliation with Azura and her pregnancy, as Inigo was experiencing the same things.

Severa left it at that and tried not to think too much about it, despite the symptoms getting worse. It was getting hard to ignore though, especially when she was currently puking her guts out.

The castle was abuzz with activity since it was close to Queen Robin’s birthday and there was a celebration planned, a ball for any noble or commoner who wanted to attend. Severa had been patrolling the castle when she happened to pass the kitchens, which in hindsight was a bad choice given her recent scent sensitivities. The smell of raw meat being sliced and prepared wafted across her path, and Severa had tried to get away as quickly as possible, managing to make her way outside before emptying her stomach contents in a bush.

_ “Why me?” _ Severa thought as she leaned against a pillar, eyes closed and trying to push the nausea away.  _ “I get the sympathetic pregnancy thing Laurent was talking about, but this is just ridiculous. It’s like I’m  _ **_actually_ ** _ pregnant-” _

Severa’s eyes snapped open, her blood running cold. 

_ “...No... There’s no way that could be... the chance for that is completely destroyed by Daddy’s spell... wait. Shit.” _

No. That wasn’t possible. There was no way she could’ve been that careless, she  _ never _ forgot to use the spell. But as she ran through her memories of that last night in Nohr, Severa realized with rising panic that she couldn’t remember casting the contraceptive spell, and suddenly the nausea and sensitivity to smell seemed to be pointing to a different cause. 

Attempting to stay calm and not jump to conclusions, Severa cleaned herself up and went to find Elise, hoping that a diagnostic spell by a healer would prove her fears to be unfounded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dun. I think it’s pretty obvious where this is going lol. Tags will be updated when the next chapter is posted.
> 
> Also, my school semester starts again next week, so I won’t be able to update as frequently, though I’m still hoping to update at least once a week.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: There is like a two-second suggestion of abortion, which is not considered at all but I suppose I should add a trigger warning for it anyway.

* * *

Severa hurried through the halls of the castle, her mind running through the locations Elise would most likely be at when she saw Owain turning the corner into the hallway she was in. He raised his hand in greeting which she ignored, opting instead to approach him, her strides wide and quick.

“Owain, hi, do you happen to know where Elise is?”

“Yeah, I’m actually meeting up with her now,” he said. Furrowing his brow, Owain examined Severa’s face carefully. “Hey, are you okay? You look kinda pale.”

Severa broke their eye contact. “Y-yeah, I just uh, I think I may be coming down with something, and I wanted Elise to check me.”

“Oh, sure, follow me.”

The two began heading back down the hall, Severa just slightly behind Owain and trying to keep her breathing steady, forcing her mind to stay silent and calm.

Owain seemed to be able to pick up on her urgency because they quickly made their way to his and Elise’s room, Owain knocking before opening the door and letting Severa in.

Severa felt as though she would have an anxiety attack. Taking deep breaths, she focused all of her mental energy on a point on the wall, ignoring Owain and Elise as they greeted each other until she heard Owain mention her name.

“-vera said she wanted you to run a diagnostic spell on her.”

“Oh! Sure, I can do that. Come over here Severa.”

Severa merely nodded, stepping closer to Elise. Elise grabbed her healer’s staff from a corner of the room and cast the spell, closing her eyes as Severa’s vital information came to her.

“Well, I don’t see anything wrong with you- wait.” Elise’s eyes snapped open, looking to Severa with confusion. “It, uh... it says... you’re... pregnant.”

Severa’s world seemed to cave in on itself at Elise’s pronouncement.

_ “No. Nonononono oh gods no this can't be happening this CAN’T be happening to me what am I going to do-” _

Severa snapped out of her panicked stream of thought when a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders. Elise was looking at her with concern, her firm grip on her shoulders keeping her grounded.

“Severa. Severa listen to me, I need you to stay calm, okay? Come, sit.”

Elise guided her over to the bed, sitting on the edge with her as Owain came to sit on the other side of Severa. 

The trio sat in relative silence, Severa taking deep, slow breaths so as not to completely freak out. 

Finally, Severa calmed down enough that she was able to turn to Elise, though still wide-eyed and white-faced, and spoke in a quiet, timid voice.

“What do I do?”

“Well there are a few options,” Elise said, her tone crisp and firm, attempting to take control of the situation and keep Severa calm. “If you don’t want to keep it, you could end the pregnancy now or-”

“No,” Severa cut off, wrapping her arms around herself protectively, “no, out of the question.”

Severa became quiet, a distant look overcoming her features before she teared up and looked Elise in the eye. “It’s all I have left of him... Is it wrong that I want to keep it?”

Elise pulled Severa into a hug, holding her tightly as she murmured, “No, I don’t think it’s wrong Severa... you’re going to be okay, alright?”

Severa could only nod, hugging Elise back as she began to sob.

Elise and Owain could only sit and try to comfort her, sharing a sad look over Severa’s head as she poured out her sorrows onto Elise’s shoulder.

There was no question Severa would have a tough time ahead of her, not only because of the pregnancy in general but because it would remind her every day of what she had lost. They could only hope that it would get easier in time. At that moment the both of them resolved to make sure their friend was well taken care of, for the duration of the pregnancy and every day afterward.

Slowly, Severa’s sobbing tapered off, and then she was apologizing, embarrassed to have cried so hard in front of Elise and Owain.

“Oh Severa, it’s okay, there’s nothing to apologize for. And don’t worry, everything will be okay, Owain and I are here for you 100%.”

“Absolutely,” Owain chimed in, “We’ve got your back Severa, we promise you won’t be alone in this.”

Getting too choked up for words again, Severa smiled weakly and pulled Elise and Owain in a hug, grateful that she had such good friends in her corner.

“Thanks you two,” Severa said as she released them from the hug.

“Of course, no problem,” Owain scoffed, as though their support was obvious. “So when do you want to tell everyone else?”

Severa groaned. Of course she would have to tell everyone eventually, but the idea of tracking each of their friends down individually to tell them scared her. Not to mention she would also have to tell-

“Ughh my parents...”

“Ah, yeah you might wanna tell them too.”

Standing up, Severa let out a breath before turning back to face Owain and Elise.

“Well, no time like the present... um... Will you guys come with me to tell my parents?”

Owain and Elise smiled, nodding enthusiastically. 

“Of course we will!” exclaimed Elise, “Let’s go!”

* * *

Severa decided she would tell her father first, so the trio moved through the castle to the mage’s workshop. Severa was mostly in her own world, mentally rehearsing what she would say to Henry, while Elise and Owain flanked her, both watching her carefully in case she suddenly got upset again.

_ “Hey Daddy, just wanted to let you know, I’m having a baby! Yep, I’m having a child, and the father is in another world entirely. The kid will never meet him and I will be raising it all by myself... ugh, Daddy’s going to kill me...” _

“Hey guys!”

A voice from behind them paused their steps. Turning around, the three were faced with Nah, Cynthia, and Brady, the latter two for some reason looking slightly embarrassed.

“Guys guys, guess what  _ I _ just saw!” Nah started, her tone playful as she stole a glance at the other two with her. “Cynthia and Brady were- wait, Severa? Are you okay?”

“U-uh, well uh, I’m... I’m...”

“Leave her alone Nah,” Owain cut in, putting a hand on Severa’s shoulder, “It’s not something she wants to talk about right now. She’ll tell you later, okay?”

Nah tilted her head, looking confused and appeared to want to press the subject further, and Brady and Cynthia were also looking at Severa with concern, her puffy eyes an obvious sign that Severa had been crying. Owain just shook his head at their interest and began pulling her away, when Severa spoke up.

“No, wait. You guys will find out eventually, so here goes... I am... pregnant.”

The answer the other three had been expecting was clearly not what had been given, as Nah, Cynthia, and Brady’s mouths were on the floor. The hallway was dead silent for all of a quarter minute when Nah and Cynthia simultaneously squealed with delight, running up to and engulfing Severa in a hug.

“Oh my gods Severa! I’m so happy for you!” Cynthia exclaimed as she released Severa. “When did you find out?”

“Just now, actually,” Severa said, relieved that it seemed they were taking the news well. “We’re on our way to tell my father now.”

“This is amazing news! Do you want me to tell the others?”

“Actually,” Severa said slowly, “yeah, that would be great Nah. Go ahead and tell the others.” 

_ “At least they should have some time to react before I see them all.” _

Nah squealed and hugged Severa again. “Everyone’s going to be so excited for you!”

With that, Nah bounded off in search of the other future children, leaving a slightly more confident Severa with the others.

“Nah’s right, everyone’s gonna have yer back, I guarantee it.” Brady finally said, further soothing Severa’s nerves.

“By the way,” Brady continued, “Has anyone gone over the dos and don’ts of pregnancy with ya yet?”

“Not yet... but uh, what do  _ you _ know of pregnancy?”

“Tch, Severa, I was a healer at a temple for like 3 years, I’ve seen my fair share of pregnancies. Let’s walk and talk, I’ll fill ya in on what you should know.”

* * *

Brady talked the entire way to the mage’s workshop with Owain, Elise, and Cynthia trailing behind, though he was still not finished when they arrived and promised to write everything down so she wouldn’t forget it.

Severa could only nod and thank Brady, her head spinning with all the information that had been poured into it.

As she approached the entrance to the workshop, Severa felt the nausea coming back as her nerves once again started acting up. How would her father react? Would he be mad? In her timeline, there were the moments he would get frustrated or irritated with her, but he never truly got  _ mad _ . Not to mention he would probably be disappointed as well. The thought of disappointing her father, even if it wasn’t her  _ true _ father tore at Severa’s heart. 

Severa lost her confidence, almost turning back and going anywhere else when Henry’s voice called out to her.

“Heya kiddo! Whatcha doing all the way over here?”

Snapping back around, Severa watched as her father approached from down the same hall they had just come down.

“D-Daddy! Uh, I just came to tell you... uh...” 

At that moment the nausea hit her with its full force, causing her to further empty her stomach all over the ground at her feet.

Coughing and spitting, Severa was aware of Henry walking up next to her, holding her hair out of the way for her.

“You okay there sweet-pea?” Henry said once Severa had stood up, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

“You know,” Henry giggled, “If you’re sick, I got a spell for whatever little bug has got you down, it’ll kill it right away nya-ha.”

The moment the word ‘kill’ was used, the five others with Henry promptly reacted, eyes widening and a resounding chorus of “NO!!” coming from their mouths.

After looking back at the others for a moment in his shock, Henry turned back to Severa. “... Sweetheart, is there a reason you and your friends want you to stay sick?”

“Ahh, well you see, uh...”

_ “Dammit, this is  _ **_not_ ** _ how I wanted this to go.” _

Severa’s nerves were starting to get to her again, and she looked back to her friends, who were either nodding or giving her a thumbs up in encouragement. Still too nervous to actually make eye contact, Severa looked to the ground and took a deep breath, and summoning all her courage blurted out the news.

“I’m pregnant.”

Silence permeated the area, and as the seconds ticked by the dread and fear started welling up again in Severa. Risking a glance, she looked up to Henry’s face and was greeted by a blank stare, his usual smile nowhere to be found.

_ “Shit shit shit he’s going to kill me, I just know it, I’m going to die by my father’s own hand-” _

“Severa, come with me, let’s talk.”

Startled at his calm tone, Severa looked back at her friends one last time, before following her father into the mage’s workshop.

The room was the same as it had been in her timeline, a very large room with a high ceiling and windows that could be shut and opened as needed on the wall opposite of the double door entrance. There was a place for dishware and various vials and jars for holding tonics and other liquids in one corner, organized meticulously by type and size. On one of the walls were shelves full of herbs and other ingredients needed for spellwork, and at the center of the room was space for fires to be built. On the wall opposite of the ingredients were other magical instruments and cauldrons of different sizes. At the very end of the room was a hall that led several other rooms, including private workspaces for the mages, and a rather extensive magical library.

Miriel and Ricken were busy at work at one of the fire spots, their cauldron bubbling with a deep purple liquid, Ricken stirring the mixture, and Miriel looking over the recipe before adding another ingredient. Both were engrossed in their work and made no acknowledgment of Henry and Severa’s entrance, which was just as well since Henry’s demeanor made it clear that now was not a good moment to talk to him.

As Severa followed her father, she was glad that Miriel and Ricken were working, because she supposed that if Henry  _ did _ kill her, he would probably have to drag her body out in front of them.

Henry led Severa to his private workspace, opening the door and letting her pass in front of him, closing the door as he entered. The wide window to the room was open, no doubt to allow easy access to the ravens and crows that kept Henry company. Several of the corvids were in fact already in the room, perched in different areas and watching the pair of humans with intelligent eyes. There was a desk on one side of the room with a pair of chairs, one empty and one piled high with various books, some of them looking to hold rather dark and dangerous spells. Severa stood silently near the door as Henry made his way over to the desk, clearing the books off the one chair and sitting in it, beckoning at her to join him.

Severa slowly made her way over and sat in the opposite chair, her hands gripping her knees tightly as she waited for Henry to say something.

“How long have you known?” Henry finally asked, his tone soft and neutral, giving Severa hope that he wouldn’t be too harsh.

“I just found out... I’ve been feeling sick lately and Laurent said I might be feeling this way because I’ve been spending a lot of time with Inigo’s wife because she’s pregnant and Inigo has been feeling sick too, but the symptoms were just too strong and I realized that I forgot to use your spell one time and  _ I’m so sorry Daddy.” _

“Hey, hey, it’s alright kiddo,” Henry said as he scooted his chair closer, pulling Severa into a hug. “It’s okay, these things happen. Don’t cry, I’m not mad, see? It’s going to be okay, I promise.”

Severa sniffled, drying her eyes with the handkerchief Henry produced from a pocket. “You’re... you’re not mad?”

“Nah, I’m not mad. Am I disappointed? Sure, since it sounds like you learned my contraceptive spell from the future me, but sometimes the moment gets heated and you forget. After all, that is how  _ you _ came into the world chickadee.”

“Ew, Daddy!”

“Nya-ha, well anyway, I’m glad you told me right away. Have you told your mother yet?”

“Not yet, I know she’ll be disappointed but I was most afraid of your reaction, so I wanted to tell you first.”

“Aw don’t worry Severa, I actually don’t think Cordelia will be all that disappointed, she loves you, and she’ll love your kid. I will too.” Henry soothed as he patted Severa’s head.

“I know I’m not really your dad, but you are still technically my flesh and blood, even if you’re from a different timeline. I couldn’t be there for you in your time, so I’ll do my best to be here for you now, okay?”

“Okay... thank you, Daddy.”

“Of course, my little raven.”

As Severa returned her father’s hug, she was filled with a sense of relief. Things would still be difficult for her, that she knew, but at least she had support from her friends and father. Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took SOO long for me to write because I was having trouble figuring out how I wanted to do the conversation between Henry and Severa. Is Henry too understanding? Maybe, but he does say that he is disappointed, and I also like the idea of a Henry who is gentle and supportive with his kid. I like to think that he knows she’s scared, so the last thing she needs is someone she trusts to be harsh with her.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, I believe I’ve said I plan on updating at least once a week, so expect the chapter sometime over the weekends, either Saturday or Sunday.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we’re back with Arthur. In this chapter I’m going to try to resolve some loose ends, particularly with Charlotte, as well as dipping into Arthur’s feelings on the Ylisse group’s leaving as a whole.
> 
> Also from here on out Arthur will be referring to Severa as Severa when he’s just thinking to himself, and when talking about her to others he will refer to her as Selena, so just a heads up, hopefully you don’t get confused.

* * *

Lady Camilla had gotten back to the retainers in two days as she had said she would, and sure enough, there were some major rearrangements, as well as new people being added to the retainer's list. There were some protests, and there was an extra day of finalization before their new assignments were given.

Arthur had been reassigned as a retainer to Lord Leo and was partnered with Niles, which he barely registered but attended to his duty as needed, going about his day mostly on autopilot.

Leo was not as rambunctious as Elise had been, so Arthur spent his time watching over Leo in the library and escorting him back and forth between the dining hall and his bedroom. It probably was better this way, since Arthur was barely able to perform his duties inside the castle walls, let alone outside on the castle grounds.

If anyone noticed the change in his demeanor, no one mentioned it. Really the only ones who  _ would _ have noticed and said something had all up and vanished. Elise would’ve pestered him until he confessed why he was upset. Odin would have claimed there was a dark force hanging over him and would demand the chance to help dispel it. Laslow would’ve made small comments here and there before outright confronting him. And Severa... Severa would’ve seen through him immediately, and she would have been, at least to others, uncharacteristically gentle in coaxing the problem out of him.

All of them would have listened earnestly to him, and all of them would have done their best to help him with his troubles. But the problem was that he had lost all his friends, and his friends were the only ones who cared. He was still really upset that none of them had bothered to say goodbye (except maybe Severa, in a way), but he supposed that they were secretive for a reason. After all, besides Lady Camilla, no one else had been notified of their departure, so perhaps there was no reason to take their lack of goodbye personally. 

Still, it stung, and Arthur was once again alone.

It was taking longer than expected for everyone to re-settle into their roles, which was why there were weekly retainer meetings for the foreseeable future. Arthur really didn’t mind, but ultimately his input wasn’t needed all that much, so he sat back and listened as the others would debate the best ways to take care of their masters or give suggestions and tips to the new retainers.

Sitting in one such meeting now, Arthur watched as Beruka and Charlotte had a rather one-sided argument on how to best care for Charlotte’s retainer assignment, as Beruka had been reassigned to protect King Xander, and Charlotte had been recruited and assigned to Princess Camilla. Silas kept trying to moderate, but Beruka was unusually annoyed as she lectured Charlotte, who didn’t seem to be paying much attention, and what she did say only seemed to rile up Beruka further.

A long and loud sigh from Jakob redirected everyone’s attention, who stood up, adjusting the cuffs of his sleeves.

“If that’s all for this week, I’m leaving. Lady Corrin will want her tea now, so if you’ll excuse me, I have better things to do.”

Not waiting for any response from the others, Jakob strolled over to the doors of the meeting room, flinging them open and walking out towards the kitchens.

“R-right, well I guess that’s it for this week then,” Silas said, a tired look on his face. “We’ll meet next week, the same time I guess. See you all later.”

Properly dismissed, the rest of the retainers stood from their seats, some leaving the room immediately, others sticking around to talk to each other. Arthur was in no mood to mingle, so he turned and left the room, intent on finding his lord.

He made it about 30 feet down the hall when a voice called out to him.

“Arthur! Wait up.”

Arthur turned back to face his partner, wondering what Niles could want.

“Niles. What can I help you with?”

Niles stopped a few paces away, crossing his arm and seemingly scrutinizing Arthur’s face for something.

“Can I help you-”

“Arthur,” Niles cut off, leveling a glare at him, “We need to talk, I’ve been watching you for the past couple of weeks, and-”

“Oh Arthur~!”

Arthur and Niles turned to none other than Charlotte, who appeared to have shaken off the angry Beruka.

“Charlotte, hello. Can I help you with something?” Arthur asked flatly.

Charlotte giggled, taking a strand of her hair and curling it around her finger. “Have you been avoiding me? I haven’t been able to talk with you since that day I tripped into you in the library! I was wondering, if you aren’t busy, would you be up to spar right now? Since  _ apparently _ I need to take training more seriously. We can get some tea afterward, my treat!”

“Oh, thank you for the offer, but I’m afraid I’ll have to pass. I’m off to find Lord Leo right now.”

A flicker of annoyance crossed Charlotte’s face, but it was gone so fast it could’ve been just a product of the lighting in the hall. Charlotte pouted, but nodded in acknowledgment of Arthur’s response. 

“Alright, well some other time then, okay?”

“Uh sure, some other time...”

With that, Charlotte turned heel and sauntered away, swinging her hips as she went. The only person who saw her walk away however was Niles, as Arthur had already turned back to resume their conversation.

“So what were you saying Niles?”

Rather than answer the question, Niles raised an eyebrow, a hint of smirk working its way across his face. 

“Playing hard to get, are we? I didn’t think you had it in you.”

Arthur frowned, eyebrows furrowing as he tilted his head slightly in confusion. “Playing hard to get? What are you talking about?”

Niles’ smirk faded, instead replaced by a frown. He stood in silence for a moment, staring at Arthur blankly before speaking. “... You know she wants you, right?”

Arthur’s look of confusion deepened. “... Oh. No, I didn’t realize that was the case.”

A look of disbelief overtook Niles’ features, and he stared dumbfounded at Arthur for another moment.

“You’re joking, right? You  _ must _ be joking, because there’s no way you could’ve missed the signs unless you’re a complete idiot, because she’s been  _ really _ obvious about it.”

“I’m not joking,” Arthur said, opting to ignore the ‘idiot’ comment, “and I’ve been... distracted lately, which is probably why I didn’t notice, and on top of that is the fact that I’m not interested in her.”

At the last part of Arthur’s comment, Niles' eyebrows shot up, his look of disbelief intensifying. “Not interested? Are you serious? Look at that body! How could you  _ not _ be interested?”

Arthur just shook his head. “Like I said, I’m just not interested.”

“Why not?” Niles demanded.

“Because... Because...” Arthur stammered, searching for what would pass as a reasonable answer but finding none, “Because I’m just not.”

Niles was clearly unsatisfied by his answer but merely shrugged. “Your loss I guess.” Turning serious, Niles leveled a glare at Arthur. “By the way, I don’t care how distracted you are, but you better bring your A-game when it comes to protecting Lord Leo. I won’t be picking up any of your slack.”

“Of course, I’ll be in top form when it comes to protecting Lord Leo.”

Niles glared at Arthur for a moment more, before turning and walking away, leaving Arthur alone in the hall.

Sighing, Arthur resumed his search for his lord. Thinking back to what Niles had said about Charlotte, it was almost enough to make him laugh. He supposed he was flattered, but he really, truly didn’t notice, nor did he care at all. He might’ve noticed her supposed advances if he wasn’t so mentally checked out. He might’ve cared if he weren’t already in love with another.

Maybe if Charlotte had approached him before Severa did, maybe things would’ve been different. After all, as Niles said, Charlotte wasn’t an unattractive individual, far from it. Charlotte also seemed to be a generally nice and approachable person, and Charlotte also seemed to have a rather agreeable disposition.

But that didn’t matter to Arthur. 

None of it mattered because ultimately, he was in love with Severa. Severa wasn’t thought of by others as docile and nice, but Arthur liked that she wasn’t, because how she actually behaved was so much better. 

He loved that she stood up for herself, that she wasn’t shy about expressing her thoughts and opinions. He loved how driven she was, and he loved how she always tried her best at things. He loved that she was always trying to improve herself, never satisfied with “just good enough”. He loved that she was a really caring individual if you just took the time to get to know her. He loved how dedicated she was to her causes, and how protective she was over those she treasured.

Sure, Charlotte may be considered more compliant and deferential which might be appealing to some other men, but that’s not what Arthur wanted.

Charlotte was for the most part a calm person, not one for emotional outbursts. Charlotte didn’t seem to have any trouble explaining what feelings she did choose to express. Charlotte didn’t come off as cold and unapproachable, didn’t offend others with her initial attitude, and Charlotte didn’t flay and sting those who offended her with a tongue like a poisoned dagger.

At the end of the day, Charlotte was rather dull to Arthur. Charlotte didn’t have all the traits and quirks and shortcomings of the one Arthur truly loved.

At the end of the day, she wasn’t Severa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, so I think until the point where Arthur actually gets the idea to go looking for Severa, his parts are gonna be kinda sad tbh.
> 
> Also, I hope I was clear in conveying that Arthur is actually in love with Severa as a person. Like he is aware of her shortcomings, so he’s not just like, infatuated. He really, truly loves her. I hope I was able to make that clear. I’m gonna do the same thing (or at least try) with Severa in I think the next chapter. Because showing mutual realistic love is important to me in my writing.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter actually doesn’t have the part I mentioned in the endnotes of the last chapter, the “Severa talks/reflects on her love for Arthur” bit. That will have to come later I guess because this chapter went the way it did and there just wasn’t anywhere to put it in.
> 
> Also, I’m so sorry I didn’t post on Sunday, my computer broke and so I didn’t have access to this or AO3 for a few days.

* * *

Just as Henry had predicted, Cordelia was less disappointed and more excited when she heard the news that Severa was with child. After gushing over Severa for almost an hour, Cordelia and Henry began looking for all the notes from Cordelia’s pregnancy, as well as all the charms and books regarding pregnancy blessings.

Henry, with her permission, cast a type of surveillance charm over her so he could monitor her condition and be alerted in the event of any problems, but thankfully Severa reached the 12-week mark without a hitch and was thus mostly out of danger, though she still agreed to keep the spell active.

Henry also began looking for a vendor of herbs for the roots of a particular Plegian plant, which he said was needed for making a special tea for expecting mothers. Henry didn’t go into the details, only saying that it was “very important” that he obtain it, and Severa left it at that, figuring he would explain more later when he actually had the root.

The rest of her friends had come to congratulate her one-by-one, and just as Brady and Nah had said, they were all excited and each promised their support, filling Severa’s heart with relief and gratitude.

While the others were still very excited for Azura and Inigo, they tended to give Azura more breathing space, a little unsure of how to interact with her when Azura was naturally a bit aloof. With Severa however, almost every hour of the day someone was with her, either socializing with her or sometimes just hovering near her in an attempt to keep her happy. While a little stifling, Severa understood what they were trying to do, and appreciated the care and attention she was receiving from her friends.

Brady took up the duty of giving Severa regular checkups since he was the most experienced of their group with pregnancy, and just as he had promised wrote down everything she would need to know during the process and a few months afterward, which with Laurent’s help was compiled into a book for easy reading.

One of the things mentioned in the book was regular exercise, so Severa would wander the halls of the castle every day, sometimes in the company of one of her friends, other times alone.

On this particular day, Nah was accompanying her, the manakete’s usual attempts at being subdued and mature replaced by an exuberance that was unfamiliar to everyone else. Nah explained it as just her excitement for the two impending additions to their group, looking forward to being a “big sister” to the babies since her parents still hadn’t had their version of her.

“Severa, just curious, would you prefer your baby to be a boy or a girl?” Nah asked, her eyes sparkling with the excitement reserved for that topic.

“Hm... I haven’t really thought about that to be honest...” Severa replied, one of her hands drifting absentmindedly to her still flat abdomen. “I suppose a girl would be fine... though actually... no, I think I would like it to be a boy.”

“If it is a boy, will you name him after his father?”

Severa shook her head. “No... I feel like that is something you do for someone who died, and Arthur’s not dead, he’s just... Not in this world.”

“Do you want help brainstorming names?”

Severa shook her head again. “No, I already have names chosen. Percival for a boy and Marie for a girl, after Arthur’s parents.”

Nah smiled and nodded in understanding. “I think those are wonderful names.”

The two continued on their walk in relative silence, Nah humming a tune that her father had taught her, unfamiliar to Severa’s ears.

They were walking close to the entrance of the castle, and they were just passing the throne room when someone called out to them.

“Severa! Nah!”

Turning around at the familiar voice, the two watched as Noire ran up to them, a large rucksack hanging from her back in addition to her bow and quiver of arrows.

“Noire!” Nah exclaimed, hugging her friend when she came up to them, “I take it you got my letter?”

“I-I did... Mother also got a message from Henry, which is another reason why I am here.”

Gently shrugging off the rucksack, Noire reached in and brought out a jar filled with pieces of a dried plant.

“Henry asked Mother if she could procure Porcupine Tail roots for him... of course Mother sent me to bring it here... But since it’s for you Severa, I didn’t mind.”

“Is this for the tea thing that my dad was talking about?”

Noire nodded. “It is... Mother explained to me that it’s part of a Plegian pregnancy blessing. That’s why Mother had me obtain and then cut and dry the roots, because it’s meant to be prepared by friends and family of the one expecting.”

Severa blinked back the tears that came from the rush of appreciation and affection she felt for her friend, internally cursing how easily she teared up as of late. “Thank you, Noire... it means a lot that you came all this way for me.”

Severa reached out to take the jar, but Noire quickly retracted it, clutching it to her chest. “W-wait! I was told that since you’re the one expecting, you’re not supposed to make the tea. I forgot to ask if that also meant you can’t touch the roots at all... Let’s find your father.”

Severa nodded her assent, knowing that Plegian culture was heavily based in tradition and rituals. Despite having been raised in Ylisse in her own timeline, her father had taught her some Plegian culture, and so there were some superstitious behaviors that she had picked up.

The three of them began to seek out Henry, walking with purpose to the mage’s workshop where he would most likely be.

Carefully entering the workshop, in case someone was deeply concentrating on something, the three of them were greeted by none other than the one they were looking for, at one of the fire spots and making something in a small cauldron.

“Heya pumpkin, good timing, I’ve got a health tonic here for you while we wait on those roots I’m trying to get.”

“Oh, thank you Daddy. Actually, Noire is here with some of it ready to go.”

Looking past Severa, Henry nodded to the two others and beckoned for Noire to approach him.

“Hmm, is this all of it?” Henry asked, grinning slightly less when Noire handed him the jar she was holding.

“Oh! N-no, there’s more in my bag, hang on, sorry!”

With that, Noire set her rucksack on the ground and began pulling bottle after bottle filled with the dried and cut-up roots, setting them on the ground at her feet.

“That’s more like it! I assume Tharja had you cut and dry all this?”

“Y-Yes. It was a lot of work, but it’s for Severa, so I didn’t mind... can Severa touch the roots by the way?”

Henry nodded. “Yep, she can touch them, but she can’t have anything to do with the preparation of the roots, or the tea itself.”

Henry then looked back at Severa. “Alrighty honeybunch, now that we have the materials, I can explain what this is for.”

“Basically, there’s a Plegian tradition where family and friends of an expecting woman prepare a tea from the roots of a plant known as Porcupine Tail, found only in the Plegian deserts. As I mentioned, the pregnant one can touch the roots before and after cutting and drying, however, she can’t have any part in that process, or in the making of the tea itself. The reason is because as it’s being prepared, the family and friends channel their blessings into the process. The whole process itself is not very elaborate, it’s the intent and blessings channeled into it that’s the really important part, but there are some key steps that should be taken as well.

“Noire,” Henry said, turning back to the archer as she startled, not expecting to be addressed, “since I assume you’ll be going back to Tharja soon, would you like to make the first brew?”

“M-m-me? Are you s-sure?”

“You bet I am! Is that alright with you Severa?”

Severa nodded, figuring if she wasn’t supposed to make it that her father would be the one doing it, and brewing the tea every day for the next 6 months sounded like it would be tedious for him.

“I call making it next!” Nah interjected, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“Nah...” Severa started, feeling bad for possibly burdening her friends with the task, “Are you sure you want to?”

Nah scoffed, “Of course I am Severa! After all, your dad said it’s supposed to be made by family _and friends_ , right?”

Henry nodded, his usual grin looking slightly more genuine. “I’ll keep the roots here, so just stop by tomorrow and I can show ya how it’s done.”

“Sounds good!”

* * *

Noire ended up staying the week and was able to brew the tea for Severa once more before she left, but not before a few of their other friends made it first. Nah had told Laurent about the tea ritual, and slowly everyone had made their way to the mage’s workshop to help out. It took an argument between Lucina and Morgan over whose turn it was for Henry to draw up a schedule, hanging it on the wall outside of the workshop next to the double door.

Severa suggested making enough every day for her and Azura as well, much to the reluctance of Inigo, who despite knowing how important her Plegian background was to Severa, still had a bad taste in his mouth from the war with Grima and the Grimleal. After sitting down with Henry to have the benefits of the tea explained to him, he and Azura discussed it and the couple agreed to Severa’s suggestion, which in the end greatly improved Azura’s mood and general relationship with everyone.

Despite not being able to make the tea herself, Severa was curious about the ritual process all the same, but for some reason Henry seemed tight-lipped about the details. It was a little irritating, but one evening Henry seemed to have accidentally left the book of Plegian blessing rituals out in their family’s common area.

Flipping through it, Severa found the entry for the tea and began reading the background for it.

_“The roots of_ ** _Arctium_** **_lappa_** _, commonly known as Porcupine Tail, make a tea meant to be ingested by a pregnant woman every day of the pregnancy, though it can be beneficial for any person, expecting or not._

_When being made for a pregnant woman, family and friends of the expecting mother work together to cut and dry the harvested roots, and then to brew the tea from the dried remains._

_The mother is not expected to help with the process, and in fact it is considered bad luck if she does, as this process is meant as a way for the family and friends to show their joy and support. Taking part in this process would be considered poor manners on the mother’s part and as such would be tempting to bad spirits that thrive on that negative energy to fasten themselves to the developing baby._

_While meant as a way for the family and friends to channel their blessings and well wishes for the mother and developing baby, it also serves to grow the bonds between everyone involved, so as to ensure once the baby is born the mother has a strong network of support._

_In particular, the father of the child is one of the most important persons to be involved in this process, for two reasons. The first is to help instill a fatherly instinct, so that once the child is born, he may already feel a connection and responsibility to the well-being of the baby. The second, because it is believed that his well-wishes and hopes for the child in particular lead to the healthy development of the baby in the womb and influence the child’s well-being after they are born.”_

Severa slammed the book shut. The air in her lungs left her like she had been punched in the gut. This was probably why Henry had been so tight-lipped about the whole process, because he knew she would be upset that her baby’s father was not around to participate.

Her baby’s father... Arthur... Severa wondered, not for the first time, how he was doing. She assumed he would have been reassigned as a retainer for one of the other royals, so she wondered if he liked his new position. Was he doing okay? How was he adjusting to post-war life?

Though she had her friends and parents, and now the baby, there was still a gaping hole in her heart where Arthur would have fit. The wound ached, some days more than others, but still it ached, constantly.

Did he ever think about her? Did he miss her like she missed him? Severa liked to think he did... but then she would remember Charlotte. She would remember how eagerly Charlotte had pursued Arthur during the war, though he didn’t seem to notice... until it seemed he did.

Again Severa was struck with the feeling of it all being unfair. It wasn’t fair that Charlotte was the one who got to be with Arthur. _She_ was the one who spent time with him first, and _she_ was the one who loved him first... but Severa knew that wasn’t the way love worked.

She could blame Charlotte all she wanted, but in the end, it was her fault. It was her fault she never said anything. It was her fault the mess with Arthur started in the first place. It was her fault that if he ever considered her in a romantic sense at all, the chance was ruined by none other than herself.

And now she would have to live with the consequences, which included Charlotte having the privilege of being his proper lover, and then probably his wife, and then she would be the one to bear him the children he had said he wanted one day.

It was at that moment that Severa realized what not only she, but also her child would miss out on. 

Her child would never get to listen to the stories Arthur had to tell, and she would never get to watch her child’s wonder and excitement at his words.

Her child would never get to learn the things only a father could teach, and she would never get to share the joy when her child mastered those things.

Her child would never experience first-hand what an amazing man Arthur was, and she would never be able to watch her child try and emulate him.

Severa saw her and her child’s futures stretched out in front of her, and as the vision of the coming years flew by her eyes, the broken pieces of Severa’s heart fractured further.

She saw the constant, daily heartbreak of her child growing up without Arthur, the questions she would receive, and the sad look on their face when watching other children with their fathers.

Severa’s heart continued to break, and pretty soon she was sitting on the floor sobbing, the book she had been reading forgotten at her feet.

That was how her parents found her soon after, still crying inconsolably. They immediately knew what happened when they saw the book at her feet, and exchanged a sad look for their daughter, the both of them sitting beside her and holding her close, unable to do anything but sit with Severa, their own hearts breaking for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the idea I got the idea from the tea from something in my own life. Basically, my mom makes this tea for my dad, me, and herself from burdock root, which is supposed to be really good for you. I just kinda went “hey why not that but as like a pregnancy blessing thing”. As for the common name I made up for the plant itself (because the scientific name is the actual IRL scientific name for the burdock plant), I looked up what burdock looks like, and according to the picture that came up when I googled it, part of it kinda looks like a sea urchin, a spiky looking ball thing, but since Plegia is a desert nation I figured calling them after porcupines would be better.
> 
> On an unrelated note, I was looking at Noire’s character art on her wiki, and Severa’s Awakening art on HER wiki, and... I honestly feel like Henry is the “most canon” father for Severa. Or at least, so Tharja is Plegian, and I feel like Noire’s clothes may be influenced by that, and Severa’s clothing in Awakening looks kinda similar to Noire’s. Idk, maybe that’s a Ylissean thing, maybe it’s Plegian. I did notice however that in Henry’s outfit, the neck part/collar is similar to Severa’s. So maybe it is a Plegian thing.
> 
> ALSO. In Fates, sometimes when she kills an enemy, Severa cackles like a maniac. Who in the Awakening first-gen also cackles like a maniac when he kills an enemy? Henry. Obviously, all of this means nothing, but in my mind, I like to think it supports Henry being Severa’s “canon” (because there is no actual canon (and don’t get me started on how NOT canon ChromxSumia is)) dad.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we’re back with another Arthur-centric chapter. The chapters will probably alternate between Arthur and Severa unless I say otherwise, just so ya know. Also this chapter is a bit on the shorter side.
> 
> Also as far as the flow of time goes, Ylisse time and Nohr time are roughly the same in this fic, so since Severa has been gone for about 4 months, she is roughly starting the 4th month of pregnancy based on my calculations.

* * *

It had now been roughly 4 months since Severa and the others had left Nohr, and Arthur still wasn’t feeling any better about the situation. If anything, his melancholy got worse.

Arthur had been making his way through the castle and managed to tumble down a flight of stairs, having missed a step in his unfocused state. 

“Arthur, are you alright?”

Arthur looked up from his position on the ground, meeting the concerned gaze of his former partner.

“Ah, yes I’m fine Effie, I’ve just been a bit... distracted is all.”

“Arthur, you know if you’re this upset about Elise having left you can talk to me, right? I mean we  _ were _ her retainers, so besides Lady Camilla and Lady Corrin, I’d be the best person to talk to.”

Arthur had picked himself up and was brushing himself off and looked at Effie, confused as to why she was bringing up Elise.

“What?...”

Effie’s mouth tightened into a thin line, her eyebrows furrowing in concern for Arthur’s emotional health. “Arthur, clearly you are still upset over Elise leaving, and some of the others and I have noticed. Do you want to talk about it?”

Arthur blinked, remaining unresponsive to Effie’s inquiry. So it would seem that others had finally noticed his poor mental state, but did she really think he was that upset over Elise? Yes, he had been Elise’s retainer, but he was also friends with Laslow and Odin. Did it not occur to her that he might be upset over them? And he spent most of his time during the war with Severa, or did Effie forget about that?

“Arthur?”

“Uh, no, it’s quite alright Effie. I thank you for the offer, but I will be fine.”

Effie frowned, clearly not satisfied with his answer, but aware that she couldn’t force him to talk.

“... Alright, but if you want to talk about it, I’m here for you.”

“Talk about what?”

Arthur and Effie turned to face the new speaker, who turned out to be Niles, a curious, interested expression on his face.

“Hello Niles.” Effie greeted, Arthur giving Niles a nod to signal his own greeting.

“Hey Babe, so what are we talking about?”

Arthur fully expected Effie to punch Niles out at his use of the word ‘babe’, but to his surprise, Effie just blushed and gave Niles a small smile.

“We were talking about Elise, and I offered my ear should Arthur want to talk about her in the future.”

“Ah, I see.”

Effie nodded, and though she had been talking to him first, Arthur suddenly felt like an intruder to the conversation.

“Well, I have to go back to Lady Camilla now. Will I see you tonight?”

“Of course you will. See you tonight.”

With that, Effie walked off, just barely remembering to wave goodbye to Arthur.

“What was that about?” Arthur asked, still not quite over his shock at Niles and Effie’s conversation.

“What was what about?”

“You and Effie? You called her ‘babe’?”

Niles faced Arthur after Effie had turned the corner of the hall. “What, have you never heard that word as a term of endearment?” 

“Well no, I have, but-”

“So what’s the issue?” Niles cut off, raising an eyebrow.

“I guess I’m just surprised is all. You two make an unlikely pair.”

Niles scoffed, “No stranger a pair than you and Selena.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well for starters,” Niles began, beginning to pace, “she was always so pissy, and all you did was carry her shopping bags,  _ and  _ you,” he said, turning back to Arthur, “... are so... you.”

“And by that you mean?...”

“Well you’re mister “Justice is everything, never be mean to another person if they don’t deserve it, and even then rehabilitate a person if able so they do deserve kindness”, blah blah blah.”

“And how would that have made our friendship incompatible?”

“I just don’t get it,” Niles said, pacing again, “It was odd when you two started spending so much time together, and I mean I guess I can understand you carrying her shit from the market to camp because you’re just an oh-so-helpful guy, but I don’t understand why you two started spending time together in the first place.”

“Well, if you must know, it started because she offered to help improve my luck.”

“Really, and how did that work out for you?”

“Well... Wait, why do you care so much anyway?”

Niles stared at Arthur for a moment, before shrugging. “Honestly, I don’t, but I was curious.”

“Right...”

There was a pause, and then Arthur spoke again.

“So... how do you two make it work anyway?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you and Effie... you two seem totally different. How do you make your relationship work?”

“We talk? Duh.” 

“That’s it?”

“Pretty much yeah. We just talk about... everything really. We’re honest with each other. We listen to each other earnestly, we pay attention to each other’s needs. But probably most importantly, we talk about any problems that arise so that they don’t become unfixable issues.”

“I see...”

Another beat of silence passed between the two of them, and Niles gave a long sigh.

“Look, again, not like I care, but I’m guessing there was some problem you and Selena had that was never resolved. Just from my observations of  _ you _ , I’d say that your problem is you try to fix everything by yourself, but you can’t fix something by your lonesome if it involves two people. In that case, you have to work  _ together _ .”

Arthur took a moment to absorb what Niles had said. It was true that he had the tendency to want to fix everyone’s problems, but he didn’t even know what the problem between Severa and himself even  _ was _ , so he couldn’t have had even the slightest clue as to where to start.

“Niles,” Arthur said quietly, “what if the other person won’t tell you what’s wrong in the first place?”

Niles crossed his arms, giving Arthur an exasperated look, as though debating on whether to answer him or not. Taking in Arthur's 'kicked puppy’ appearance, Niles sighed and spoke.

“Sometimes you have to give them space to tell you on their own time, but if they won’t tell you even then, sometimes you just gotta get on your knees and beg, because letting it drag on indefinitely isn’t good for either party. Sometimes you just gotta plead with them, tell them that they can trust you and you won’t judge them and that you’ll do what you can to support them. The most important part of that though is that you in fact keep your word to support them and that you  _ do not judge them _ .”

“I... I see... thank you Niles, this was rather illuminating, thank you.”

Niles just rolled his eyes, mumbling his discontent about having to act as a relationship counselor and strolled off, leaving Arthur to contemplate what he had said.

No matter which way Arthur looked at the situation, Niles was right. The problem he had involved not only himself but Severa too, so he would have  _ had _ to have worked with her to resolve it. He should have been more firm, he should have outright asked her what was wrong, or at the very least figured out a way to gently broach the subject in the very likely event that she would’ve gotten upset and clammed up. 

He thought it was obvious that he would’ve supported her, but he realized that he should have outright ensured her of his support. Arthur realized his staying silent on the issue for so long might’ve actually been what pushed her away. Severa wasn’t a mind reader, so she couldn’t have known what he intended by his silence. Again he realized that he should have gently brought it up, and ensured she knew he was there to listen and support her when she was ready to talk about whatever was burdening her heart.

Ultimately though, all the “should haves” didn’t really matter. Severa was gone, and there was no way now to ask her what went wrong. Arthur would have to live with the knowledge that if only he had been more insistent, he might have been able to avoid the awkwardness their relationship devolved into.

Despite knowing it to be foolish, Arthur wished he could have just one more chance with Severa, if only for the chance to make things right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I also started putting out another 2 FE Fates multi-chapter fics on here, and I sorta have another fic fully planned out and I’m considering starting it too. I’m really excited for the plot parts of the one story, “Iago’s Revenge”, and I’m looking forward to working on my writing skills with the other two, but I promise I intend to keep working on this as well. Like I’ve said I’ve wanted this done for years, so I have no intention of abandoning it. 
> 
> In case you’re interested, “Iago’s Revenge” is a multi-pairing story, but Arthur/Selena is one of the pairs, and in the other one currently being published and the one in the works, both feature Arthur/Selena.


	23. Chapter 23

* * *

Severa quietly entered the set of rooms she shared with her parents and their version of her, returning from her daily walk and wanting to find her mother with the intention of getting something to eat with her.

Lately she had been trying to be more friendly, and though it was still difficult sometimes, it was slowly getting easier to let her guard down around Cordelia, building the relationship she had always dreamed of having with her mother though was never quite able to forge due to her own insecurities. Maybe part of it was the baby growing in her and the subsequent change in emotional sensitivity, but Severa found herself craving the connection with her mother that Cordelia was only too happy to provide.

Severa stepped into the foyer of their family quarters, removing her shoes, taking note of the three sets already there. So it would seem that Henry and Little Severa were there as well, having come back from their own weekend strolls around the market of Ylisstol.

Moving quietly so as not to cause unnecessary noise, Severa walked into the living room, about to call out a greeting when she saw her parents and Little Severa sitting together on the couch.

Her parents hadn’t noticed her, too absorbed in the story that Little Severa was telling about her and Henry’s market trip, answering questions that Cordelia asked animatedly.

Though Henry and Cordelia assured her many times that they loved her and insisted that she refer to them as her parents (because as they had reasoned, she _was_ their daughter, even if she was from a different timeline) it was times like these that she felt like an intruder. Who was she to take their attention away from their version of her? She was by all accounts fully grown, and so any attention she sought from this version of her parents was not hers to have. She already had her time with her parents, never mind that the time spent with them was not always of good quality, never mind that they left her alone way too early.

It was at that moment she felt movement from her child. It was still a new feeling to Severa, not quite used to it yet, but every time she felt the flutter signifying their existence her heart filled to bursting with joy and warmth, and despite everything that happened she was glad that she had this.

But right now... Severa was hit by sorrow. As a rule, she usually tried not to think too hard about what her child would miss out on, but... watching her parents with their version of her, a feeling of loss washed over her. 

At that moment, her treacherous heart pictured a scene that she would never experience in reality, an image of her and Arthur and a son, and before she knew it she had lost herself in the daydream. 

_“Arthur was sitting with her on a couch of their own, his arm around her shoulder and her hand crossed over her chest to rest her hand over his. They were leaning against each other, the two of them dozing when their son jumped into their laps, startling the both of them but leaving them smiling at the wide, childish grin on his face. Severa sat up, brushing a lock of her boy’s hair out of his face, smiling and again leaning back into Arthur as their son began telling a story about a game he had played with his friends, a happy, content glow surrounding their little family-”_

“Looks like it’s time for _you_ to take a nap Little Crow. C’mon now, let’s go.”

Severa was broken out of the daydream as she watched Henry stand up, kissing Cordelia’s forehead gently and causing her to smile and blush at him as Henry picked up Little Severa, carrying her out of the room to put her down for a nap.

Cordelia watched as her husband carried their young daughter off, smiling to herself, a picture of absolute happiness and bliss. Cordelia then turned, making eye contact with Severa and calling her over.

Severa blushed at having been caught watching, and made her way over and sat next to her mother, a few inches of space in between them. Cordelia was having none of that, instead pulling Severa to her, placing Severa’s head against her chest as Cordelia rested her chin on the head of who she simply considered her older daughter.

“I just want to remind you that you are _not_ intruding. For all intents and purposes, you are simply the older sister in our family, even if that makes you the older sister to yourself, understand? Henry and I love you, we were so upset when you disappeared without warning for two years. We never want you to feel like you don’t belong here, not when we love you so much, just as much as our own version of you. I love you Severa.”

Severa teared up, mumbling her thanks and her own love for Cordelia as well. No matter how many times her parents reassured her, Severa always, without fail, got emotional from their declarations of love and care for her.

Cordelia hugged Severa to her tighter and began humming a lullaby that Severa’s version of Cordelia had sang for her as a child. Severa closed her eyes, losing herself to the familiarity, pretending just for a moment that she was in her own timeline, with her own version of her mother, a timeline where Grima had never come back and her parents had never died fighting to protect her.

“Moth- Erm... Mama...” Severa said when Cordelia’s lullaby ended, “How do you and Daddy make it work?”

“What do you mean Severa?”

“I mean... Even in my own timeline, you and Daddy had the best relationship. Loving, caring, trusting... How can you be so sure of yourselves?”

“Hm... Well, we come to each other and talk through any problems we may have before they become big issues... We make sure to show our love for each other every day... We listen to each other... and perhaps most important of all, we trust each other.”

At the last point, Severa broke away from Cordelia, making eye contact with her mother.

“But _how_ can you trust each other so fully?” Severa exclaimed, a frown marring her features, “Isn’t it... Isn’t it scary?” she finished quietly.

Cordelia smiled gently, running her fingers through Severa’s bangs.

“Of course it’s scary. You’re opening your heart and soul to another person, and even though you know your heart may get bruised, you have faith that they’ll never intentionally break it. But in mutual love, they are also opening _their_ heart and soul to _you_. It’s in this exchange that there’s the promise that you’ll take care of each other. That you’ll support and listen to each other.”

Severa cut off Cordelia, frowning again. “That sounds way too simple. Surely it’s not that easy.”

“Of course it’s not that easy, let me finish. There will be times where you’ll have to compromise, and sometimes you may have to give up ground, but sometimes you’ll get your way as well. But at the end of the day, you _must_ remember that what matters is that they are yours, and you are theirs. You give them your hopes and dreams and fears, and they give you theirs, but you _work together_ to make the relationship stay alive. But you _have_ to work for it. The both of you.”

“That... I’m not going to lie, that sounds like a lot of effort. What’s the point?”

“Severa, Severa... It _is_ a lot of effort, but a relationship is like tending a fruit tree. You work together to help it grow strong, and eventually, you reap the rewards. You water the tree with your love and support for each other, you make adjustments to help it grow. And as the tree of your relationship grows stronger, the roots grow deeper and hold it firmer. And the stronger it is, the more confident you become in its strength, and in that strength, you find your trust.”

“Oh... that... actually makes a lot of sense... Thank you Mama...”

“Of course Severa.”

The two sat together in silence, Severa contemplating her mother’s words, when Henry came back into the room and sat next to Cordelia, who leaned back into Henry as he put his arm around her.

Henry asked Severa how she felt and how her pregnancy was progressing, and Severa began to answer his question, explaining more when either of her parents asked a follow-up question. As the parents and out-of-time daughter sat together talking, that warm glow of family surrounded them, and while she still doubted, Severa felt a sense of security and belonging that made her feel just a bit better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a note, the first part that Cordelia says about keeping a good relationship imo applies to all relationships, romantic or friendly.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so when I said in the beginning notes of chapter 20 that I was tying up the loose end with Charlotte, what I meant at that time was I was explaining what was actually happening when Severa found Arthur and Charlotte together in the library the day before she left (chapter 15). Idk if you remember, but in chapter 20, Charlotte mentions that she tripped into Arthur. That was it. What Severa “caught” in ch. 15 was just the exact moment after Charlotte tripped into Arthur. But THIS chapter I ACTUALLY resolve the thing with Charlotte.
> 
> Also, again, I’m sorry if anyone reading this actually likes Charlotte, yes I am aware that her wiki says she’s actually kind-hearted, but in my gameplay, I never got past her flirty gold-digger personality to see anything genuinely nice. On top of that is her outfit, and while I realize that it’s probably just fanservice, there are other ways to provide fanservice without making the character look like she’s parading around in her underwear. I do not like Charlotte, and again, because I never got past her fake personality I just see/saw her as being kind of an insincere character and thus have characterized her as being kind of a bitch.

* * *

Sitting in another weekly retainer meeting, Arthur watched with little interest as Beruka, Silas, Jakob, and Charlotte argued back and forth about the merits of continuing the meetings. 

This particular meeting was a little different, and had started with Gunter laying out plans for the guard detail for an upcoming ball that King Xander had planned to celebrate Queen Hinoka’s coronation. Gunter had been assigning duties for that night, but when he came to assign Charlotte, Beruka made a snide comment about Charlotte’s seeming lack of interest in actually performing her regular duties, and thus suggesting that she would not be able to properly protect the royalty the night of the ball.

Charlotte of course got angry at the comment, and then an argument broke out between the two of them. Charlotte made some remark on the purpose of the normal weekly meetings, which of course drew in Jakob, and then Silas into the argument. Despite it only being 4 people, the noise from all the yelling and screaming at each other was creating quite an awful noise, which was compounded by the fact that the room they were in echoed.

“SILENCE!” roared Gunter, his voice cutting through the din and instantly freezing everyone in the room. “Everyone stop. Jakob, there will still be weekly meetings after this one, and you are  _ required _ to attend. Silas, I didn’t want to have to tell you this way, but I will be in charge of running meetings from this point forward, as King Xander has expressed concern over the lack of progress from everyone. Beruka, I hear your worries and they  _ will _ be addressed. And you, Charlotte, your training will now be overseen by myself. Is everyone clear about this?”

Gunter received nods from everyone in the room, though he was only looking for acknowledgment from the ones he was addressing. After taking another moment to give them a stern glare, Gunter addressed the entire room. 

“Now then, since emotions were running a bit high just now, I am going to give you all a fifteen-minute recess. I want  _ all _ of you back here by the end of that time so we can begin this meeting again promptly, understood? You are dismissed.”

With that, the room was filled with the sound of chairs scraping along the floor, the occupants stretching themselves out or leaving the room immediately, eager to be out of there for even just a little bit before needing to return.

Arthur was one of the number who wandered out of the room, his head aching from the noise of the yelling that was happening just moments before. Making his way down the hall, Arthur became aware of another set of footsteps following him and turned around as the footsteps quickened and came closer.

“Charlotte?”

Charlotte stopped a few feet away, a smile on her lips as she looked up at him through her lashes, curling a strand of her hair around one of her fingers.

“Hello Arthur, stretching your legs before the meeting starts again?”

“Uhh, yeah, I am... Is there something I can help you with?”

“Oh, not really, I just wanted to talk to you!” Charlotte said, taking a step closer to Arthur, who reflexively stepped back.

“That Beruka is a  _ real _ bitch, don’t you think Arthur? I mean hellooo, I’m trying my best here. It’s not my fault that all these castle and retainer protocols are just so complex.”

“I think it’s a bit far to be calling Beruka that kind of name, she is just concerned about the safety of Lady Camilla and everyone else... maybe you just need to spend more time studying up on the protocols?”

A flicker of annoyance crossed Charlotte’s face before she was back to smiling coquettishly at him, and it was at that moment that Arthur remembered what Niles had said to him about Charlotte. Specifically, that she was apparently trying to woo him.

“Well, maybe we can sit down some time and you can help me-”

“Charlotte,” Arthur cut off, holding a hand up as she once again tried to close the distance between them. “Why do you keep asking to spend time with me?”

“What, am I not allowed to want to spend time with a colleague?”

“Charlotte...” Arthur began, taking another step back, “I don’t want to make assumptions, especially on just mere hearsay, but if you’ve been interacting with me for... reasons that go beyond just friendly, you should know that I’m not interested in such attention.”

This time, Charlotte’s face clearly showed annoyance, her hands balling into fists at her side.

“Arthur, surely you jest. You’re telling me you  _ don’t _ want my attention?”

Arthur nodded. “That’s correct, I’m not interested in anything more than a professional relationship.”

Charlotte stared as him in silence, before her face flushed, stamping her foot on the ground and glaring at Arthur. “UGH! What  _ is _ it with every man rejecting me lately?! I  _ guess _ I understand Jakob and Kaze, but then Lord Xander! How could he reject me for that plain, boring little hick! I don’t get it! And now YOU?! I don’t understand, I’ve NEVER had trouble attracting men before, what is wrong with you all?!”

Arthur resisted the urge to grimace, instead managing to keep his features neutral. “I don’t think there is necessarily anything wrong with any of us, it’s just that each of us either was already in or was close to or interested in beginning a committed relationship with another woman.”

“Oh really,” Charlotte huffed, crossing her arms across her chest, “and what about  _ you _ ? I don’t see any other woman hanging off  _ your _ arm. Why are  _ you _ rejecting me?”

Arthur gave an exasperated sigh, running a frustrated hand through his hair. “Well, I’m rejecting you because I’m just not interested in that kind of companionship from you.”

“But WHY?!” Charlotte screeched, her fists again coming to rest at her sides, her foot coming down fiercely onto the floor.

Arthur frowned, his head beginning to ache more at the insistence of the woman in front of him. “I don’t need to tell you that. My response of ‘no’, is more than enough, and I don’t and shouldn’t need to say anything more.”

Arthur felt something akin to pity when the anger on Charlotte’s face morphed for a split second into frustrated despair, and Arthur let out a tired sigh. 

“... But if you really must know why I’m rejecting you, it’s because I’m already in love with someone else. But she didn’t love me back. I’m still picking up the pieces to be honest, but I don’t think this will ever heal. She was... everything to me.”

Charlotte was silent for a moment, taking in Artur’s broken, melancholy expression. 

“... You really love her, huh?”

“I do.” Arthur responded, no louder than a whisper, his voice cracking with grief.

Charlotte stared at him blankly before turning and walking away, tossing a careless “well good luck with that” over her shoulder.

Arthur barely registered Charlotte's words having already turned and started walking once more in the direction he was originally headed, though this time with the intent of finding a deserted part of the castle to compose himself. He couldn’t remember the last time he had ever cried, but as he walked out into a courtyard he found he was very close to it.

Taking a seat on a stone bench, Arthur ran a hand down his face, taking deep breaths. He really needed to get a grip on himself. But as he had told Charlotte, Severa had meant everything to him... and for the first time since she had left, Arthur wished Severa had never come into his life. He wished she never approached him at that wedding reception and he wished they had never formed their alliance.

But perhaps most of all, he wished he never fell in love with Severa in the first place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we are done with Charlotte. According to my planning document, she doesn’t actually make an appearance after this, and in fact, I think she’ll only ever be mentioned/talked about once more. Just depends on how the chapters actually write out. But we are done with her.
> 
> Also, Arthur is obviously displaying the “anger” part of the grief cycle here. I know the grief bit is sorta getting stale, I’m getting sick of it too, but there is one last Arthur chapter where he’s sad, and the plan for that chapter is he gets hopeful at the end, because of a certain event that happens during it.
> 
> One last side note regarding Charlotte, specifically her and Arthur’s little interaction here, I want to note that Arthur is 100% correct in saying that he doesn’t need to elaborate on why he is rejecting her. Like he said, a simple “no” is all he really needs to say. IRL, it is my opinion that people don’t need to explain their reasons for rejecting romantic advances, in fact, they don’t need reasons at all. If they “just don’t want to”, that should be enough.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING  
> This chapter involves Severa and Cynthia talking about their shared past/trauma at the hands of that castle guard recruit rando from their previous timeline. Specifically, they talk briefly about what happened in the aftermath of finding out the truth of the situation, their personal feelings about it, and moving on and finding love after a traumatic event like that. 
> 
> Also mentions of violence from Henry that honestly, I could totally see him inflicting on a person who took advantage of his daughter.

* * *

Severa was about 7 months into her pregnancy, though the bump in her abdomen was rather small in her opinion. Brady had assured her that this was okay and was in fact normal, considering that she was in good physical shape, it was her first pregnancy, and that her mother had also been on the smaller side with her pregnancy. She was still nervous, but Brady had been monitoring her weight and said she was progressing as she should, and her father still regularly monitored her with magic and assured her that he wasn’t picking up anything irregular or strange.

It was late in the evening, and Severa was cleaning her family’s common room, waiting for one of her friends to bring her the Plegian tea they had been taking turns brewing.

A knock at the door signified the arrival of her friend, and Severa opened the door and was greeted by Cynthia, a nervous smile on her face that Severa found odd.

Severa stepped aside to let Cynthia in, and they went into the kitchen area, setting the tray with the tea down and sitting together.

Cynthia still looked nervous, and Severa remarked on this as she poured herself a cup of tea, wondering if Cynthia had messed up the brewing process.

“W-What?! No no, of course not, I would have redone the whole thing if I did.”

“So why are you so nervous then?”

“I’m not, I just... I wanted to talk to you about something...”

“And that something is...?”

Cynthia sighed, looking down at her lap where her hands were clutching her knees. “I wanted to talk... I wanted to talk about Michael.”

Severa stiffened when she heard that name, having tried so hard over the years to block it out or otherwise forget it. Just hearing it aloud brought painful and uncomfortable feelings to the forefront of her mind, though she would find out why Cynthia wanted to talk about him before shutting the conversation down.

“... What about Michael?”

Cynthia sighed, and her face pointed up to the ceiling as she blinked back the tears that had suddenly formed. 

“I-I just... I want to move on from that... but I’m... I’m scared.”

“... Scared about what?”

Cynthia took a deep breath, then looked back at Severa, fear and nervousness twisting her features.

“I... well... Me and Brady... I... I like him... and he told me that he likes me... but I’m scared of starting a romantic relationship with him.”

“... Go on...”

“It’s just... Ever since Michael, I told myself to forget about men, that they aren’t worth it. I told myself I could be happy without a romantic relationship... But then Brady and I started spending more time together, during the war. And that’s sorta when I started liking him... Did you know that Brady chose to stay at the castle because he wanted to stay close to me? He told me when we confessed to each other, and while I was so, so happy... I’m just so  _ scared _ . I really, really like Brady, and... Michael really screwed up my sense of how quickly a relationship should progress. I’m scared of going too fast and scaring Brady off, or moving too slow and having him lose interest. I don’t want to mess this up.”

Cynthia’s gaze had slipped back down to her knees, but then she looked back up at Severa, desperation in her eyes.

“How did you do it? How did you move on?”

Severa stared at Cynthia, the silence between the stretching on as Severa contemplated the question. How to answer it? While Severa had come to realize that Cynthia wasn’t to blame for what happened all those years ago, that she too was a victim, Severa felt uncomfortable discussing this with her. But the look of fear and pain on Cynthia’s face and in her eyes was too familiar, and Severa knew she couldn’t abandon her friend again. So she told the truth.

“I... I actually didn’t move on.”

“...What? But... but you have the baby.”

Severa sighed, averting her gaze to keep from looking at the confusion on Cynthia’s face. She knew all her friends were confused about why she was pregnant but hadn’t brought the father back with her, especially when she told them that Arthur wasn’t dead. She hadn’t expected to ever have to talk about the details of why she was alone.

“Yeah, I have the baby... but I never told Arthur I love him.”

“Huh?”

“It was... an accident really, the first time we slept together. I was going to tell him I liked him, but there was a wedding that night, Owain’s wedding, so I had drunk a bit too much and my inhibitions were lowered to the point that I wasn’t thinking through the consequences... Honestly, Michael screwed me up big time.”

“Did I ever tell you exactly what happened with Michael?” Severa continued, unsurprised when Cynthia shook her head. 

“So... I liked Michael a lot... and I thought he felt the same since when I confessed to him, he kissed me... but rather than start a proper relationship... He just used me. We never did any cutesy couple stuff, it was always just sex. He taught me how to pleasure him, and that was all we did. After... After it was revealed that he was using both of us, I shut down completely. I swore I would never attempt anything romantic with another man ever again. Despite having gross lovey-dovey parents, I didn’t know a thing about how to actually start any sort of relationship, so when I fell for Arthur... I panicked. Rather than tell him I liked him, I froze up and did what I knew how to do, which was pleasure a man... I think... I think at that point Arthur might have actually liked me too, but the next morning after we slept together, I freaked out, because you  _ don’t _ just sleep with a person you like without actually establishing something first, even if we both wanted it... and I left his room while he was still sleeping. After that, well... I tried to fix it, I tried  _ so many times _ to tell him I was sorry, and that I really did love him, but  _ every single time _ I panicked. Did you know that when the truth came out, Michael said that I was only good as a sex toy?... Every time I tried to tell Arthur, I would hear Michael’s voice saying that and all sorts of mean, nasty things, and I would freeze up and perpetuate the mess I had started, sleeping with Arthur and then leaving right after because I was too embarrassed and scared to tell him what was going on.”

“But then... but then why didn’t Arthur say anything?”

“He did, once. He asked if I was okay, he asked what we were doing... and I froze up. I had an anxiety attack and ran off crying... I think that scared him, kept him from saying anything else. After that incident, he never brought it up again. We continued what we were doing, but then finally someone else confessed to him.”

The two women fell into silence, Cynthia processing what she had been told, and Severa reflecting on her romantic failure.

“So... is it hopeless?”

Severa jolted out of her thoughts at Cynthia’s question, speaking quickly to correct her friend.

“No, absolutely not, it’s not hopeless. Just... don’t do what I did. Brady already knows to some extent what happened in the past, so it should be a little easier I would think. Just... be honest. Explain your fears, talk things out. I think he’ll be understanding, and I don’t think he’ll hold anything against you. You said yourself, he told you he likes you too, so I assume he doesn’t judge your past... Just... make sure you guys communicate, and I think you two will be really happy together.”

Cynthia smiled, tearing up at Severa’s reassurance and advice, holding onto her tightly when Severa moved to her side to hug her. The two friends held onto each other as tears began to fall, healing just a bit as a small part of their guilt and pain lifted from them. They both still had a lot to work through and process, but this was the spark they needed that would lead them slowly to recovery.

The two of them broke apart, smiling as they wiped their faces.

“Severa... thank you.”

“Of course, any time Cynthia.”

Cynthia smiled wider, hugging Severa again. 

“Hey, remember what happened afterward? I’m just glad your father will do as he pleases. All my daddy did when he found out was increase the training regimen for Michael and just generally try to make his life a living hell. Your dad  _ actually _ made his life hell with all the hexes and curses.”

“Hah, yeah that  _ was _ nice. Still, I would’ve liked the chance to hex him a bit myself, but of course, Daddy got carried away and fed the bastard to his crows and ravens.”

Though the memory of the screams was macabre, both of them smiled and giggled, and they felt the rift that had occurred between them so many years ago pull back together, the one damaged point of their friendship mending from their cathartic heart-to-heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the stuff Severa and Cynthia talked about, their feelings and fears and such, some of it came from a very personal place, as like I’ve mentioned in past chapter notes I have some sexual trauma that I’m still working through. I’m going to be honest, I teared up a bit writing this chapter, my own feelings of guilt and such coming up. I want to say if you are dealing with anything similar, that it is okay to take your time with it and feel what you need to feel. Take care of yourself, and do what you need to do to heal, so long as you’re not harming yourself further. Healthy coping mechanisms.


End file.
